Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Dos Palos Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dos Palos, California 93620
Thursday, August 22, 2002 7:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During cruise flight the engine started to vibrate and the pilot made a forced landing in a newly plowed field and the airplane nosed over after encountering soft soil. The pilot had been crop dusting for about 7.5 hours when the event occurred. The outboard portion of one of the propeller blades had separated. A review of the airframe records indicated that the propeller was overhauled about 10 months prior to the accident. A metallurgical examination of the failed blade revealed it had failed as a result of fatigue cracking that originated from a nick, located on the flat side of the blade's leading edge. Also observed were groove marks that were relatively uniform and consistent with tool marks left by a file. In accordance with the overhaul manual, a field repair can be done to grind or file out corrosion of the blade, with a dye penetrant inspection to detect any visible damage or cracks (Hamilton Standard 130B Blade Overhaul Manual). The overhaul manual notes that tool and file marks should be polished out as one of the final steps in the process. According to the FAA approved flight manual, during the preflight walk-around inspection, the pilot is to inspect the propeller blades for nicks and cracks.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of the propeller blade due to fatigue. Factors in the accident were the inadequate maintenance-repair of the blade, and, inadequate pilot preflight inspections.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/22/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 730 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | DOS PALOS |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93620 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 365744N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1203748W |
| Event Location Airport | Dos Palos Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 28CA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 15 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 360 |
| Airport Elevation | 118 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 653 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 10 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MCE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 156 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| 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) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -190 |
| 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) | 16869 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 22 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 850 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2004 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FAT-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8793S |
| NTSB Number | LAX02LA257 |
| 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 | Air Tractor |
| Aircraft Model | AT-301 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AT 301-0195 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7710 |
| 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 | Aug 8 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 13904 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SPAIN AIR |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 217 |
| Aircraft Owner City | DOS PALOS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93620 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | RP2G |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PVT |
| Departure City | DOS PALOS |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 650 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | PVT |
| Destination City | DOS PALOS |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 29 2004 5:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | RICJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 290 |
| Runway Length | 2600 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |