Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Floydada Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Floydada, Texas 79235
Friday, September 14, 2007 13:40 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was headed toward a spray site in his single-engine, turboprop-equipped agricultural airplane when the engine began to lose power. He described the power loss as a "min-flow" condition, and he was forced to make an emergency landing to a field. As a result, the fuel control unit was removed from the engine and the bellows and rod guide were examined. Examination of the rod guide revealed there was a small leak between the CDP and overboard drain; however, the leak was not enough to cause a significant decrease from the fuel control. Examination of the bellows revealed there was a small hole in the outer ply that was significant enough to reduce fuel flow. The hole was due to pitting corrosion, but since the corrosive agent could not be determined, it was not possible to determine at what point the corrosion began. On July 3, 2006, Pratt and Whitney Canada issued Service Bulletin 13408, titled TURBOPROP ENGINE FUEL CONTROL UNIT - REPLACEMENT OF, which applied to the PT6A-65AG and PT6A-65B engines. The purpose of the Service Bulletin was to reduce the chance of a power rollback due to reduced fuel flow as a result of a leak in the Fuel Control Unit (FCU) bellows from material irregularities. The Service Bulletin told the operator to replace the hydromechanical FCU with a new one which incorporated a more robust P3 bellows design and an air flow deflector to prevent P3 air impingement on the bellows. Pratt and Whitney recommended that the FCU be replaced the next time the engine was disassembled and access was available to the necessary subassembly. A review of the aircraft logbooks revealed that this Service Bulletin (which was not mandatory) was applicable to this engine, but had not been complied with at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A leak in the outer ply of the BeCu bellows. This hole appeared to be the result of pitting corrosion, but the corroding agent was not determined.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/14/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1340 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Floydada |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79235 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 340005N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1011929W |
| Event Location Airport | Floydada Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 41F |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2400 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 30 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LBB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3282 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 32 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.19 |
| 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) | 23650 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Lubbock FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 17 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 28 2008 12:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Lubbock FAA/FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8522P |
| NTSB Number | DFW07LA203 |
| 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 602 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0704 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 12000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | Sep 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 2069 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Mitch Probasco |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Floydada |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 79235 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 41F |
| Departure City | Floydada |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1340 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 19 2008 8:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | GAMW |
| 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 | -- |