Grumman G-164B N962QC

Summary

On 9 November 2006 at about 16:15 local time, a Grumman G-164B registered N962QC, operated by Robert D. Merrill, was involved in an accident near Pine Hill, Alabama, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

9 November 2006 at 16:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Pine Hill, Alabama, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Grumman G-164B

Registration

N962QC

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Robert D. Merrill

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Pine Hill → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL07CA018

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper fuel management resulting in a total loss of engine power in cruise flight due to fuel exhaustion, subsequent forced landing to non suitable terrain, and an on-ground collision with tree stumps on the landing roll out.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that he completed five aerial application sorties before returning for fuel and fertilizer. The fuel and fertilizer was added to the airplane, and the pilot assumed the airplane had been topped off with fuel. The pilot did not visually check the fuel tanks. The airplane holds 82 gallons of fuel of which 2 gallons are unusable. The airplane burns 44 gallons of fuel per hour and it burns 15 gallons of fuel while at flight idle when the airplane is being loaded with fuel or fertilizer. The pilot stated that he was not sure how much fuel the airplane uses for taxi, takeoff, and climb to his cruise altitude. The pilot departed and flew five additional sorties before returning 1 hour 27 minutes later. The airplane remained at flight idle while fertilizer was loaded onto the airplane and no fuel was added. The pilot departed, climbed to 700 feet, and was in cruise flight when the engine lost power. The pilot turned to the left and made a forced landing to a field where trees had been harvested. The landing gear collided with the tree stumps on landing roll out, separated the landing gear, and the airframe received structural damage. Examination of the airplane by recovery personnel revealed that the fuel tank was not ruptured and no fuel was present in the fuel tank. No fuel spill was observed nor was there a presence of the smell of fuel at the crash site. The fuel line from the fuel tank to the airframe filters was severed. The main fuel line from the airframe filters was removed from the main engine fuel pump inlet fitting and residual fuel was present. The opposite end of the fuel line was removed from the exit side of the airframe filters and no fuel was present. The main fuel line to the engine was disconnected and no fuel was present. The fuel line from the inlet side of the airframe filters was disconnected and no fuel was present. The engine assembly was transported to an authorized repair facility. The engine assembly was installed in a test cell. The engine started in 22 seconds on the first attempt. The engine vibrated which was attributed to a suspected bent propeller shaft. All ground idle operations were normal. The fuel control unit and propeller governor were damaged. When power was applied, the fuel control unit and propeller governor would not govern the engine rpm. The engine was shut down, started three additional times, and ran for about 30 minutes.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.