- Date
- July 29, 1989, 17:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Donaldsonville, LA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8172KSchweizer G-164B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 22, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890729025779A
- Case key
- 22733
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
Loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. A contributing factor was the soft terrain.
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 ag airplane had been working for 15 minutes when the engine lost power. The pilot dumped the load, and five seconds later, the engine power returned. The pilot climbed the airplane and turned toward the departure airport. At 300 feet AGL, the engine lost power again, and the pilot turned back toward the field he had been working. The airplane touched down in high soybeans, and rolled 85 feet before the propeller dug in. The airplane nosed over to the inverted position. No reason could be found for the loss of engine power.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8172K
- Reported as
- Schweizer G-164B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 600B
- Airframe hours
- 3,539
- Engine
- P&W R-1340, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Air Farm Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 11, 1989 · 200 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
- 30
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 6,543 total · 5,169 in this make and model · 6,519 as pilot in command · 150 in the last 90 days · 75 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 82 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.