Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Moline, Illinois 61264
Sunday, July 22, 2007 10:25 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that 15 minutes into the flight the airplane began to lose airspeed. The flight was 300 to 500 feet above ground level en route to the assigned spray field at the time. He noted that although he was at full throttle, the airplane continued to lose airspeed. He subsequently observed oil on the right side of the engine cowling. The pilot recalled banking left to avoid an interstate highway. He commented that the airplane "quit flying" just prior to the landing. The airplane came to rest upright in a corn field. A post impact fire consumed approximately one-half of the aircraft. A post accident inspection revealed that the number 3 engine cylinder head had separated into two sections. Examination of the fracture faces revealed features consistent with a fatigue failure. The failure initiated at the root of the cylinder head thread engaged with the uppermost barrel thread. Engine maintenance records indicated that the engine had accumulated approximately 7,495 hours total time, with about 615 hours since overhaul.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fatigue failure of the engine cylinder during cruise flight resulting in a loss of engine power. Additional causes were the pilot's failure to maintain sufficient airspeed and the resulting inadvertent stall during the forced landing. A contributing factor was the airplane's low altitude at the time of the loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/22/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1025 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Moline |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 61264 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 412654N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0903030W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1052 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MLI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 590 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.24 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23449 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 22 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 30 2008 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-DuPage FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9828 |
| NTSB Number | CHI07LA221 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Grumman |
| Aircraft Model | G-164A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1288 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6075 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 27 |
| Airframe Hours | 4652 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Patrick Buss |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Portland |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97217 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | DVN |
| Departure City | Davenport |
| Departure State | IA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1010 |
| 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 | Apr 14 2008 8:47AM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| 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 | -- |