Grumman Acft Eng Cor-Schweizer G 164A N8598H

Summary

On 21 June 2015 at about 13:00 local time, a Grumman Acft Eng Cor-Schweizer G 164A registered N8598H, operated by Kennys Crop Dusting Inc, was involved in an accident near Five Points, 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

21 June 2015 at 13:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Five Points, California, United States

Coordinates

36.4297, -120.1031

Aircraft

Grumman Acft Eng Cor-Schweizer G 164A

Registration

N8598H

Category

Airplane

Year built

1975

Engines

1

Operator

Kennys Crop Dusting Inc

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Five Points → Five Points

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR15LA194

1 person had minor injuries.

Maintenance personnel’s improper reassembly of the engine during overhaul, which led to the failure of the supercharger-blower due to a lack of lubrication and the subsequent total loss of engine power during takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, shortly after takeoff for the aerial application flight, the engine lost power. The pilot subsequently initiated a forced landing to a field. The airplane impacted the ground and flipped over. The engine manufacturer's table of limits specified that the minimum side clearance/tolerance between a starter shaft circumference and a starter shaft bushing should be 0.002 inch. However, during postaccident examination, there was no measurable clearance between the starter shaft circumference and the starter shaft bushing, which impeded oil flow to the impeller shaft and bearings and resulted in the failure of the supercharger-blower due to a lack of lubrication. The engine had accumulated 2.0 hours since its last major overhaul, and it is likely that maintenance personnel improperly reassembled the engine during the overhaul.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.