Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Toms River, New Jersey 08753
Thursday, May 25, 2000 9:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After the third aerial application pass, the airplane's engine developed a severe vibration, then seized. The pilot dropped the chemical load, turned the airplane into the wind, and made a forced landing into a cranberry bog. Afterwards, the pilot reported that had he had felt no binding when he pulled the propeller through, to check for hydraulic lock during the preflight. He also stated that the airplane hadn't seemed to be developing full power for about a week prior to the accident. During the post-accident engine teardown, an upper (number 9) cylinder was removed, and a broken connecting rod was found. Metallurgical examination of the connecting rod fragments revealed well-defined crack arrest positions, indicative of fatigue, on the smaller fragment. The fracture features within the fatigue region were relatively uneven, and in several locations, the fatigue crack appeared to have extended in overstress. There were no visible metallurgical defects in the initiation area. The larger fragment contained features typical of an overstress. According Advisory Circular 65-12A, a partial hydraulic lock could cause a 'slightly bent connecting rod,' which could go unnoticed, but would be 'sure to fail later.' Upper cylinders on high wing aircraft have been known to be susceptible to hydraulic lock due to a leaking fuel primer.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the number 9 cylinder connecting rod, due to a primer leak initiation of a partial hydraulic lock. A factor in the accident was the unsuitable terrain, to which the forced landing had to be made.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/25/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 900 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | TOMS RIVER |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 08753 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 855 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 300 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | NEL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 103 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 11000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 860 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Region COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 30 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 930 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 25 2001 4:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N910X |
| NTSB Number | NYC00LA144 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Grumman |
| Aircraft Model | G-164-A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | G-164-A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 502 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6100 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 25 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 24 |
| Airframe Hours | 6268 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DOWNSTOWN AIRPORT, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 339 HARDING HIGHWAY |
| Aircraft Owner City | VINELAND |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 08360 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | CHATSWORTH |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 915 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 25 2001 4:10AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |