Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Donalsonville, Georgia 31745
Wednesday, August 4, 2010 11:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, he was applying chemicals to a field at 200 feet above ground level when the engine lost power. He said that he heard a "pop" sound, heard the engine "spool down," and observed blue smoke trailing from the top of the engine cowling. He selected a nearby field and performed a forced landing. The airplane was substantially damaged when it impacted trees and terrain during the landing. The pilot said that he heard the sound of "something spinning" coming from the engine cowling before he subsequently shut down the engine, after which the sound ceased. Upon exiting the airplane, he saw oil draining from the lower aft portion of the engine cowling.
Postaccident examination revealed internal engine damage along the gas-path downstream of the compressor turbine. The compressor turbine blades were fractured about 1/3 to 1/2 of their respective spans and displayed burning erosion and coating loss. Visual and macroscopic inspection of the blade fracture surfaces displayed no indications of fatigue or other progressive fracture mechanism. The definitive failure mechanism of the blades was not determined. The compressor turbine blades were manufactured by a third-party vendor under a Federal Aviation Administration Parts Manufacturer Approval. The blade manufacturer required that the blades be submitted for overhaul inspection after the first 5,000, and each subsequent 3,000 hours of operation thereafter. The installation and overhaul history of the blades could not be determined from maintenance records provided.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power due to a failure of the compressor turbine blades for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/4/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1130 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Donalsonville |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 31745 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 310025N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0845239W |
| 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 | 1121 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BGE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 141 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| 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) | 29009 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern CROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 9 2011 12:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4004D |
| NTSB Number | ERA10LA401 |
| 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 | AYRES CORPORATION |
| Aircraft Model | S2R-T34 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6005 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6000 |
| 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 | May 6 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KILLARNEY AVIATION INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5456 KILLARNEY RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | JAKIN |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 39861-3906 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Custom Ag and Air, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | RR 1 Box 260 |
| Operator City | Jakin |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 31761 |
| Operator Code | SY9G |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 17J |
| Departure City | Donalsonville |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 17J |
| Destination City | Donalsonville |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 29 2011 1:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |