- Date
- September 19, 1988, 15:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Ferriday, LA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N31646Air Tractor AT301
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 11, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880919043699A
- Case key
- 22505
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 was on a swath run when the engine malfunctioned. The pilot released the load of chemicals and made a forced landing in a bean field. There was very little damage to the beans but there was substantial damage to the airplane. Teardown inspection of the engine revealed a crack from one spark plug hole to the other spark plug hole in the number five cylinder. Indications were that this crack did not affect the engine valve operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N31646
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT301
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 301-0543
- Airframe hours
- 2,400
- Engine
- P&W R-1340-AN-1, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Ben Bernard, doing business as Concordia Air Service
- Registered owner
- Concordia Air Service, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 2, 1988 · 342 hours before
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
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 20,000 total · 1,000 in this make and model · 2,000 as pilot in command · 400 in the last 90 days · 100 in the last 30 days · 10 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MCB, 60 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.