- Date
- September 9, 2000, 10:30 local (14:30 UTC)
- Place
- Dillon, SC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N7955Grumman G164A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 4, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000909015349A
- Case key
- 51038
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
A total loss of engine power due to a cracked cylinder head. A factor was the emergency landing into unsuitable terrain, and the subsequent nose over.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot was spraying chemicals into a field when the engine lost power. The pilot made an emergency landing into a soft field and flipped inverted during the landing roll. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and the vertical stabilizer. Examination of the engine revealed that the number eight (8) cylinder had cracked.
Factual narrative
On September 9, 2000, at 1030 eastern daylight time, a Grumman G-164A, N7955, collided with terrain during an emergency descent to landing following a loss of engine power, in Dillon, South Carolina. The airplane was operated by the commercial pilot under the provisions of Title 14, CFR Part 137, and visual flight rules. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local agricultural flight. The pilot was not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight originated from Dillon County Airport, Dillon, South Carolina, at 0950.
According to the pilot he was spraying chemicals into a field when he heard a hissing sound and the engine lost power. The pilot made an emergency landing into a soft field and flipped inverted during the landing roll. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and the vertical stabilizer. Examination of the engine reveled that the number eight (8) cylinder had cracked. According to the pilot, the engine had accumulated 1,113 hours since its last major overhaul.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7955
- Reported as
- Grumman G164A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 834
- Airframe hours
- 6,828
- Engine
- P&W R-1340-AN1, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- James W. Price
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 28, 2000 · 41 hours before
- Departed
- DLC
- Destination
- SC
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 36
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 4,230 total · 350 in this make and model · 4,000 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 50 in the last 30 days · 9 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FLO, 24 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N7955 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.