Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Eagle Lake, Texas 77434
Wednesday, September 19, 2001 9:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During the second turn around maneuver of the aerial application flight, the engine lost partial power. The pilot dumped the 250 gallon fertilizer load; however, the airplane descended, struck trees, and impacted the ground. The reason for the power loss was not determined.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the partial loss of engine power for an undetermined reason, which resulted in an in flight collision with trees and terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/19/2001
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 900
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Eagle Lake
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 77434
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 9
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 Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 5
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 36
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 135
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 1
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11925
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Sep 20 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 800
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 1 2002 11:26AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Houston, Texas

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N73PB
NTSB Number FTW01LA209
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 137: Agricultural
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Grumman
Aircraft Model G-164A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1118
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 --
Airframe hours since last inspection 20
Airframe Hours 6492
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Lowell R. Hicks
Aircraft Owner Street Address 14602 Live Oak Lane
Aircraft Owner City East Bernard
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77435
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 12235 BJ Dusek Road
Operator City Wallis
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 77485
Operator Code LXFG
Owner has at least one certificate --
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Agriculture
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Aerial Application
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code ELA
Departure City Eagle Lake
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 845
Departure Time Zone 
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 - aerial application
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Jun 5 2002 8:58AM
User who most recently changed record SNYG
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --