- Date
- July 19, 1996, 16:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Bainbridge, GA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N697YGrumman-Schweizer 164
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 4, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960719019029A
- Case key
- 3745
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
The pilot's misjudgment of the clearance from the trees during the swath run that resulted in the collision.
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 rated pilot was enrolled in a training program for aerial application pilots. During this practice phase of the flight training, the pilot was making a routine swath run, dispensing water, when the collision occurred. According to the operator, the airplane collided with a stand of trees during a swath run pullout, and stalled. No mechanical problems with the airplane were reported by the pilot.
Factual narrative
On July 19, 1996, at 1630 eastern daylight time, a Grumman-Schweizer G-164, N697Y, collided with trees while practicing aerial application maneuvers three miles east of Bainbridge, Georgia. The aerial application training flight operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 137, with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane was destroyed, and the pilot received minor injuries. The flight departed Decatur County Industrial Airpark in Bainbrige, Georgia, at 1545.
The rated pilot was enrolled in a training program for aerial application pilots. During thE practice phase of the flight training, the pilot was making a routine swath run, dispensing water, when the collision occurred. According to the operator, the airplane collided with a stand of trees during a swath run pullout and stalled. No mechanical problems with the airplane were reported by the pilot.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N697Y
- Reported as
- Grumman-Schweizer 164
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 248
- Airframe hours
- 3,450
- Engine
- P&W R-985, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Howell Agflight Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Departed
- BGE
- Airport
- BGE · Decatur County Airpark
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
- 49
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 450 total · 5 in this make and model · 450 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 93 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- JAX, 90 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 N697Y · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.