- Date
- April 13, 1990, 16:15 local (21:15 UTC)
- Place
- Reeves, LA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N48455Schweizer G-164B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 2, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900413009119A
- Case key
- 22982
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 due to a frozen rocker arm.
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
During an aerial seeding flight, the ag airplane engine lost power and the pilot made a forced landing in a rice field. At touchdown, the main landing gear broke off, and the airplane flipped forward to the inverted position. That the number 3 cylinder exhaust rocker-arm bearing had frozen, locking the rocker-arm, and breaking open the rocker-box cover.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N48455
- Reported as
- Schweizer G-164B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28B
- Engine
- P&W R-1340-AN1, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- O'Brien Flying Service, doing business as Zoren O'Brien, Watso
- Registered owner
- O'Brien Flying Service
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 13, 1989 · 176 hours before
- Departed
- NONE
- Airport
- 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
- 31
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 12,060 total · 9,832 in this make and model · 12,060 as pilot in command · 260 in the last 90 days · 95 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LCH, 30 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 N48455 · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.