Snow 600 N1691S

Summary

On 14 November 2008 at about 17:40 local time, a Snow 600 registered N1691S, operated by Ewing Dusting Service, was involved in an accident near Nashville, Tennessee, 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

14 November 2008 at 17:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Coordinates

36.1050, -86.5619

Aircraft

Snow 600

Registration

N1691S

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Ewing Dusting Service

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Nashville → Tullahoma

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA09CA054

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the propeller shaft seal in flight. Contributing to the accident was the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The owner of the Snow 600 aerial application airplane stated that the airplane had not been flown “in some time.” The airplane was equipped with a Pratt & Whitney R-1340 series engine. According to the pilot, he agreed to reposition the airplane to another airport as a favor for the owner. The day before the flight, the pilot examined the airplane, and conducted an engine run-up to assure himself that the airplane appeared to be acceptable for flight. He reported some minor airframe discrepancies to the owner, and these were rectified prior to the accident flight. The airplane was not flown between the pilot's initial examination and the accident flight. Several minutes after takeoff on the positioning flight, the pilot noted that oil began to coat his windshield, and he saw white smoke emanating from the engine area. He selected a field for a forced landing, and conducted an uneventful touchdown. During the rollout, the right wing struck a tree, approximately 3 feet inboard from the wingtip. The airplane partially rotated around the tree, and the right main landing gear and tailwheel were damaged. Postaccident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector and a mechanic revealed that oil had leaked from an undetermined location at the forward end of the engine near the propeller shaft and hub assembly.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.