Grumman G164 N8741H

Summary

On 28 July 2009 at about 18:00 local time, a Grumman G164 registered N8741H, operated by Kennys Crop Dusting Inc., was involved in an accident near Riverdale, California, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 July 2009 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Riverdale, California, United States

Coordinates

36.4183, -119.9519

Aircraft

Grumman G164

Registration

N8741H

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Kennys Crop Dusting Inc.

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Rasin City → Riverdale

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR09LA373

1 person had minor injuries.

The partial loss of engine power due to the failure of the engine's supercharger-blower.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a spray pass the pilot detected a "hot smell," which prompted him to pull up out of the field to check his engine gauges. As everything appeared normal the pilot returned to the field to continue spraying operations. Upon re-entering the field the pilot reported that "…the engine changed sound." After pulling up out of the field a second time the pilot revealed that the engine began to slow down, followed by the emission of smoke from the exhaust system. The pilot made a successful forced landing in the field he was spraying; however, due to the wet field conditions it nosed over on its back, which resulted in substantial damage to the airplane. A post accident teardown examination revealed that the engine had failed as a result of a supercharger-blower failure. It also revealed that foreign object material was detected in the engine; however, it could not be determined if this was causal to the engine failure. The manufacturer recommends an overhaul time of between 600 to 1,000 hours for engines operated in aerial application operations. At the time of the accident the engine had accumulated a total of 835.27 hours since its most recent major overhaul.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.