Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sacramento, California 95837
Saturday, July 6, 2002 9:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After taking off and initiating a left turn at an altitude of approximately 15 feet agl, the pilot heard a "loud bang and a sharp jolt as the airplane began shaking violently." The pilot leveled the wings and reduced power; however, the vibration did not subside. He then initiated a shallow right turn in order to land on a road. "As I began to maneuver for landing I saw a burst of flame from the exhaust and heard the engine quit and felt the aircraft settle." The airplane impacted a levee and flipped over, coming to rest inverted. During post-accident investigation of the wreckage, it was noted that the outboard section of one propeller blade was missing. The inboard section of the Hamilton Standard propeller blade was sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory Division for examination. It was reported that the blade was fractured approximately 26 to 27 inches from the butt end. Optical examination of the fracture face found features consistent with fatigue progression over the majority of the fracture. Closer examinations revealed beach marks and other progression features indicating fatigue initiation at a mechanical dent on the camber surface near midspan. Further examination indicated that fatigue accounted for approximately 70% of the total fracture area.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Propeller blade failure due to fatigue. A contributing factor was the rising embankment.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/6/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 930 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Sacramento |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95837 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384431N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1213217W |
| 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) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SMF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 30 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.92 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1138 |
| 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) | 12994 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 6 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1330 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 17 2003 10:23AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Sacramento, California |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3631B |
| NTSB Number | LAX02LA216 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Grumman-Schweizer |
| Aircraft Model | G-164B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 762B |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | Jun 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 95 |
| Airframe Hours | 10600 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Farm Air Flying Service |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4425 West Reigo Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Sacramento |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95837 |
| 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 | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | NHQG |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Sacramento |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 928 |
| 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 | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 24 2003 12:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |