Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wray, Colorado 80758
Tuesady, August 19, 2014 7:40 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 19, 2014, about 0740 mountain daylight time, the pilot of an Air Tractor AT-401, N4542W, made a forced landing in a field near Wray, Colorado. The pilot, the sole occupant on board, sustained a minor injury. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was being operated by Tri-County Ag of Wray, Colorado, under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 as an aerial application flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan had been filed. The local flight originated from Wray Municipal Airport (2V5), Wray, Colorado, approximately 0700.
According to the pilot's accident report, he had just finished spraying a field and was climbing out to return to his home base when he felt a subtle vibration from the engine and noticed manifold pressure dropping rapidly. When he attempted to increase manifold pressure by opening the throttle, the engine began to vibrate violently and lost all power. The pilot made a downwind forced landing. To avoid a drainage ditch and power lines ahead, the pilot applied heavy braking and the airplane nosed over. The vertical stabilizer and rudder, cockpit, and left wing sustained crushing damage.
On October 14 and 15, the engine was partially disassembled and examined. Engine oil was drained from the rocker arm sump. In addition to carbon, a small amount of aluminum and steel filings were recovered. A compression check of all the cylinders was made with the following results:
Cylinder 1 0/80
Cylinder 2 50/80
Cylinder 3 0/80
Cylinder 4 20/80
Cylinder 5 25/80
Cylinder 6 75/80
Cylinder 7 65/80
Cylinder 8 55/80
Cylinder 9 55/80
Cylinders 1, 3, and 4 were removed and examined. The intake valve in the number 3 cylinder had a ridge worn of its face, and the valve seat was worn excessively. The exhaust valve in the number 1 cylinder was stuck open and was found to be binding in the valve guide. It was removed with extreme difficulty. The exhaust valve clearances were then checked and found to be less than the Pratt and Whitney overhaul limits of .003" - .0055", with a maximum wear limit of .010", to wit:
Cylinder 1 Clearance .002" Stem size .610" Guide size .613"
Cylinder 3 Clearance .0022" Stem size .611" Guide size .6132"
Cylinder 4 Clearance .0022" Stem size .611" Guide size .6132"
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/19/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 740 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Wray |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80758 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 400601N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1021427W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | 715 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | 2V5 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3677 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR K2V5 191315 AUTO 00000KT 10SM 16/13 A2995 RM |
| 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) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ANM ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 28 2014 11:28AM |
| User who most recently changed record | scoa |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4542W |
| NTSB Number | CEN14LA439 |
| 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 | AIR TRACTOR |
| Aircraft Model | AT-401 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 401-0767 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7880 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| 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 | Aug 8 2014 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 7969 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Wilmington Trust Company, Trustee |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | . |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 198901100 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Aurora Cooperative |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | Aurora Cooperative |
| Operator City | Wray |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 80758 |
| Operator Code | K9JG |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 2V5 |
| Departure City | Wray |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 700 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 2V5 |
| Destination City | Wray |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 29 2014 1:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | scoa |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |