Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Wilder, Idaho 83676
Thursday, June 12, 2008 18:40 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, he was applying fertilizer to a field of hops. After several passes over the field, a total engine failure occurred. The pilot was forced to land the airplane in a small onion field. The pilot said that after touchdown, he "forced the aircraft into the ground to avoid collision with a raised canal." The airplane made "one complete forward flip," which destroyed the tail section, and came to rest nose down. Following its recovery to the operator's facility, the airplane was examined by the pilot and a Federal Aviation Administration inspector. They noted metal chips and oil in the engine exhaust pipes and found all the spark plugs to be contaminated with oil. According to the pilot, these signatures were indicative of a supercharger failure.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power as a result of failure of the supercharger. Contributing to the accident was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/12/2008
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1840
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Wilder
Event State IDAHO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 83676
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 434130N
Event Location Longitude 1165625W
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 Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
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) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 24078
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC
NTSB Notification Date Jun 12 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Aug 28 2008 3:01PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Boise, ID

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N48571
NTSB Number LAX08LA177
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 137: Agricultural
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
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 82B
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 Feb 1 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 9308
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Carol's Flying Service, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Wilder
Aircraft Owner State ID
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
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 TZWG
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 --
Departure City Wilder
Departure State ID
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1830
Departure Time Zone MDT
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 Emergency landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 8 2008 5:42PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --