- Date
- July 15, 1991, 17:04 local (22:04 UTC)
- Place
- Swifton, AR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N6615Grumman G-164A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 24, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910715027449A
- Case key
- 23203
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
Partial failure of the hopper, chemical fire, and the failure of the landing gear. A factor ws the loss of visual outside reference.
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 day agriculture operations, the pilot lost outside visual references due to dense smoke coming from the chemical hopper. The pilot elected to execute a forced landing on the adjacent runway. During the approach the airplane struck a set of electrical transmission wires. Following the landing the hopper erupted into fire, so the pilot abruptly pulled the airplane off the runway. During the abrupt ground maneuver, the right main landing gear broke off. Following the loss of the landing gear, the fuel cell ruptured and ignited, resulting in the airplane being consumed by fire.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6615
- Reported as
- Grumman G-164A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 749
- Airframe hours
- 6,231
- Engine
- P&W R1340-AM1, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- In-Flight
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Deral Duncan & Tony Kinder, doing business as Pirate Aviation
- Registered owner
- Deral Duncan & Tony Kinder
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 3, 1991 · 98 hours before
- Airport
- NONE · Unknown, runway 36, 2,000 × 75 ft, dirt
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
- 32
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 1,450 total · 198 in this make and model · 1,350 as pilot in command · 120 in the last 90 days · 78 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 63 °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.