- Date
- May 1, 1994, 07:30 local (13:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lindon, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N8559HGrumman G-164A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 7, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940501010479A
- Case key
- 19045
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
Inaccurate preflight planning and preparation for the flight. A factor was soft terrain on the landing strip.
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 takeoff roll from a soft grass strip on an aerial application flight, the aircraft struck a fence and trees shortly after becoming airborne. The aircraft came to rest on its nose off the end of the private airstrip. The pilot was not injured and no chemicals were spilled.
Factual narrative
On May 1, 1994, between 0600 and 0900 mountain daylight time, a Grumman G-164A, N8559H, sustained substantial damage during takeoff from a private airstrip near Lindon, Colorado. The pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for this local area aerial application flight, and no flight plan was filed.
The accident site was on a farm near the unincorporated community of Last Chance, Colorado. According to the pilot, he had operated from this facility in the past and normally departed to the south. On this flight, he said that due to the wind, he elected to depart to the north. The field was soft due to recent rains and the takeoff roll was longer than anticipated. As the aircraft became airborne, according to the pilot, it struck a fence and some trees and came to rest vertical on the nose. The pilot said he was not injured and the hopper remained intact.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8559H
- Reported as
- Grumman G-164A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1409
- Engine
- P&W R-985-SE, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- West, Frank Don & Helen
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 22, 1994 · 79 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
- 71
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 12,000 total · 4,000 in this make and model · 11,500 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 18,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- AKO, 35 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 N8559H · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.