- Date
- April 3, 1990, 16:20 local (21:20 UTC)
- Place
- Fenton, LA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N6714KGrumman G-164B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 2, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900403007479A
- Case key
- 22981
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
Failure of the elevator control rod end bearing.
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 had completed his turn-around, and after descent to the field he was seeding, he pulled the stick back to leveloff, and the stick became free in his hand. The airplane continued to the terrain/water, impacted hard and broke apart. Investigaton revealed that the elevator torque tube control rod end bearing had failed, making elevator control impossible.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6714K
- Reported as
- Grumman G-164B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 433B
- Airframe hours
- 4,921
- Engine
- P&W R-1340-AN-1, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- O'Brien Flying Service, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 20, 1990 · 2 hours before
- Departed
- NONE
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
- 38
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 7,488 total · 6,600 in this make and model · 7,358 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N6714K · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.