Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

King City, California 93930
Monday, July 3, 2000 9:45 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot had flown about 4 hours in the airplane earlier that morning with no discrepancies noted. After reloading and refueling the airplane, he flew about 2 or 3 miles to the field he was to spray and completed three spray passes. As he started the fourth pass, about 50 - 100 yards into the field, the engine "sputtered" and lost power. The pilot pulled up toward a nearby open field but realized, because of the heavy weight of the aircraft, he couldn't make the field and turned to land on a field perimeter road. He landed tail high (2-point) and, as the tail came down, the wingtip hit an embankment on the right side and the airplane veered into the bank and came to rest. The pilot extricated himself and a postcrash fire ensued which consumed the airplane. Postcrash examination of the fuel truck that serviced the airplane revealed that the truck appeared well maintained and a fuel sample from the truck appeared clear and usable. No fuel sample remained in the aircraft after the fire. The aircraft was a total loss and no further examination was made to determine the cause of the engine failure.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/3/2000
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 945
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City KING CITY
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93930
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 7
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 Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 953 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 300
Weather Observation Facility ID SNS
Elevation of weather observation facility 84
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 45
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 2000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 55
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 50
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
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) 10736
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 3 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1110
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Oct 17 2001 9:02AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N48456
NTSB Number LAX00LA246
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 137: Agricultural
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Grumman
Aircraft Model G-164B
Aircraft Series Identifier G-164B
Aircraft Serial Number 29B
Certified Max Gross Weight 4500
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 Jun 14 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 12
Airframe Hours 8641
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SOILSERV, INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address PO BOX 1817
Aircraft Owner City SALINAS
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode
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 LSHG
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Agriculture
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 940
Departure Time Zone PDT
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 Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 26 2001 4:00AM
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 --