- Date
- September 9, 2002, 10:20 local (15:20 UTC)
- Place
- Dexter, MO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N4919QCessna A188B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 5, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration, Teledyne Continental Motors
- FAA report
- 20020909027589A
- Case key
- 55701
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 fatigue fracture of the connecting rod, the recommended engine overhaul not performed by the company, and the low altitude flight.
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 agricultural airplane impacted a cotton field during a forced landing. Examination of the engine revealed that the number two connecting rod was fractured. The fracture surface was consistent with a fatigue fracture. The engine exceed the manufacture's time to be overhauled by 283 hours.
Factual narrative
On September 9, 2002, at 1020 central daylight time, a Cessna A188B, N4919Q, piloted by a commercial pilot, was substantially damaged on impact with terrain. The pilot performed a forced landing while applying pesticide on a cotton field near Dexter, Missouri. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The 14 CFR Part 137 agricultural flight was not operating on a flight plan. The pilot was uninjured. The flight originated from Dexter Municipal Airport, Dexter, Missouri, at 0850.
The pilot reported that the engine experienced a total loss of engine power while turning to change course for another pass over the field.
The airplane was powered by a Teledyne Continental Motors (TCM) IO-520-D32B, serial number 282977-R, engine. The engine accumulated a total time of 1,983 hours. The manufacturer's recommended time to be overhauled for the engine was 1,700 hours.
The engine was removed from the airframe and shipped to TCM, Mobile, Alabama, for a disassembly examination under the supervision of the National Transportation Safety Board. The examination revealed that the number two connecting rod was fractured at the journal area. The fracture surface was noted to have beach marks.
The Federal Aviation Administration and TCM were parties to the investigation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4919Q
- Reported as
- Cessna A188B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18802654T
- Airframe hours
- 6,451.7
- Engine
- Teledyne Continental IO-520-D32B, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Randal Laverne Douglass, doing business as Douglass Co LLC
- Registered owner
- Douglass CO LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 25, 2002
- Departed
- DXE · Dexter, MO
- Destination
- DXE
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
- 29
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 700 total · 400 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 0° at 0 knots
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Observed at
- POF, 26 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.