Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Buttonwillow, California 93206
Friday, June 8, 1990 6:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT WAS COMPLETEING AN AERIAL APPLICATION SWATH RUN, WHEN HE HEARD A LOUD BACKFIRE EMANATE FROM THE ENGINE DURING THE PULL-UP. THE ENGINE THEN QUIT RUNNING ALTOGETHER. THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO MAKE A LANDING ON A DIRT ROAD, BUT LANDED SHORT IN A TOMATO FIELD, AND THE AIRCRAFT NOSED OVER ONTO ITS BACK. EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED THAT THE NUMBER 7 CYLINDER HEAD HAD A CRACK, WHICH EXTENDED FROM THE FORWARD SPARK PLUG BOSS AROUND THE CYLINDER HEAD TO THE REAR SPARK PLUG BOSS. DETAILED EXAMINATION OF THE CRACK SHOWED THAT THE FRACTURE FACE WAS CONTAMINATED BY CARBON DEPOSITS AND LIGHT CORROSION IN THE COARSE AREA OF THE CRACK, INDICATING THAT THE CRACK WAS PRESENT FOR A LENGTHY PERIOD OF TIME PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. THE CYLINDER WAS REPORTED TO HAVE ONLY 181 HOURS SINCE OVERHAUL.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE #7 CYLINDER DUE TO A PRE-EXISTING CRACK. THE TERRAIN CONDITION WAS A RELATED FACTOR.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/8/1990 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 630 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | BUTTONWILLOW |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93206 |
| Event Date Year | 1990 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1255 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BFL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 322 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1100 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 1 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | FAA |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 272 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 8 1990 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 745 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 41121 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 5:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6725K |
| NTSB Number | LAX90DVA04 |
| 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-Schweizer |
| Aircraft Model | G-164B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | G-164B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 438B |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 17 1990 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 165 |
| Airframe Hours | 4894 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | VINCE CROP DUSTERS, INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 265 |
| Aircraft Owner City | BUTTONWILLOW |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93206 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | VINCE CROP DUSTER, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 265 |
| Operator City | BUTTONWILLOW |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 93206 |
| Operator Code | RQGG |
| 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 | NONE |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 600 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | 0 |
| Runway Width | 0 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |