Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

East Bernard, Texas 77435
Tuesady, August 31, 2004 17:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The 27,940-hour pilot reported that during an aerial application of chemicals, the radial engine on his agricultural airplane began to "cough and pop" prior to a loss of engine power. Upon this loss of power, the pilot executed an emergency landing into a flooded rice field. The airplane impacted the terrain and nosed-over coming to rest in the inverted position. Examination of the aircraft by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the number four cylinder on the engine was cracked at the barrel.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power as result of the failure of the number four cylinder. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/31/2004
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1730
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City East Bernard
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 77435
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 293156N
Event Location Longitude 0960844W
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 1730 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID KSGR
Elevation of weather observation facility 82
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 26
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 6000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 6000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 20
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.03
Density Altitude (feet) 2059
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) 16724
NTSB Notification Source FAA Communications Center
NTSB Notification Date Sep 2 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 825
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 7 2004 11:17AM
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 N8222K
NTSB Number FTW04LA227
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
Aircraft Model 164B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 617-B
Certified Max Gross Weight 7020
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 17 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 522
Airframe Hours 11378
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Lowell Hicks
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 14602 Live Oak Street
Operator City East Bernard
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 77435
Operator Code --
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 EAST BERNARD
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1700
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City East Bernard
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering - aerial application
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Sep 29 2004 6:21PM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --