Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Mendota, California 93640
Saturday, August 18, 1990 4:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE PILOT REPORTED THAT THERE WAS A LOSS OF POWER DURING A SPRAY RUN. HE DUMPED HIS CHEMICAL LOAD. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE AIRCRAFT COLLIDED WITH CROPS AND A DITCH, THEN IT NOSED OVER. NO PRE-ACCIDENT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE ENGINE WAS FOUND. THE COLLISION OCCURRED DURING DARKNESS AT 0400 PDT.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

LOSS OF ENGINE POWER FOR AN UNKNOWN REASON. DARKNESS WAS A RELATED FACTOR.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/18/1990
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 400
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City MENDOTA
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93640
Event Date Year 1990
Event Date Month 8
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 Pilot
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 20
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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 FAA
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1067
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 20 1990 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 930
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 42287
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 5:16PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3657X
NTSB Number LAX90DVA09
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 ROCKWELL
Aircraft Model S2R
Aircraft Series Identifier S2R
Aircraft Serial Number 1888R
Certified Max Gross Weight 6000
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 Mar 7 1990 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 343
Airframe Hours 8329
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name WESTERN AG. AVIATION, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 6450 COLORADO AVE.
Aircraft Owner City TRANQUILITY
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 93668
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 RQIG
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 330
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 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 --