Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Wagner Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Robbins, California 95676
Friday, May 21, 2010 16:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During an agricultural application flight, the pilot noticed that the right brake pedal was stiff and saw what appeared to be hydraulic fluid on his foot. The pilot tried without success to set and release the brake to correct the stiff brake pedal. He radioed his base of operations to notify ground personnel of the possible brake problem and of his intention to return to the airfield. The pilot attempted to land the tailwheel-equipped airplane with a direct crosswind that was 15 knots, gusting to 20 knots. As soon as the airplane’s right wheel touched down, the pilot felt the airplane start to pull to the right. When he tried to correct the airplane’s direction to the left, the pilot felt the wind shift and the airplane veered off the left side of the runway into an adjacent irrigation ditch. The left wing came to rest on the sloping terrain forming the ditch. The investigation showed that the right brake calipers separated from the airplane at touchdown. Examination of the right wheel revealed that the inner wheel hub flange sustained a circumferential failure that allowed the inflated tire and tube to expand and impinge upon the brake disc and caliper. The examination further showed that the tire installed on the airplane was a larger size than the standard tire size recommended by the manufacturer of the wheel assembly (29x11.0-10 instead of 8.50-10). Because of its larger-than-standard size, the tire impinged on the brake disc and caliper after the wheel hub flange failed, which resulted in the caliper’s separation upon touchdown.
According to the type certificate holder for the airplane, some G-164B operators of the accident airplane model have obtained field approval from their local Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flight standards district office to use the oversize tires. The FAA had issued such a field approval for the accident airplane. As a result of this accident and the subsequent investigation, on December 15, 2010, the FAA issued Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin CE-11-06, which reminded operators that oversized tire modifications require analysis and substantiation as well as periodic inspections to prevent unsafe conditions, none of which were accomplished in this case.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the wheel hub flange, which allowed the over size tire to expand and impinge on the brake disc and caliper, which resulted in a loss of control during the landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/21/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Robbins |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95676 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 385219N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1214235W |
| Event Location Airport | Wagner Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CA18 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 23 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 140 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SMF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 27 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 20 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| 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) | 30005 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 24 2012 5:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3633C |
| NTSB Number | WPR10LA253 |
| 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 | SCHWEIZER AIRCRAFT CORP |
| Aircraft Model | G-164B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 776B |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5200 |
| 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 | May 1 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50 |
| Airframe Hours | 10400 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SUNRISE DUSTERS INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1580 MALAGA CT |
| Aircraft Owner City | YUBA CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95993-1135 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SUNRISE DUSTERS INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 1580 MALAGA CT |
| Operator City | YUBA CITY |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95993-1135 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | CA18 |
| Departure City | Robbins |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CA18 |
| Destination City | Robbins |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 24 2012 5:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 14 |
| Runway Length | 3100 |
| Runway Width | 35 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |