- Date
- September 18, 1998, 08:15 local (13:15 UTC)
- Place
- Bovina, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9492RSnow S2C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 16, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980918041149A
- Case key
- 43985
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
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll.
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 the landing roll, the agricultural airplane exited the right side of the runway and impacted terrain. The pilot reported that after touchdown on runway 09, the tailwheel-equipped airplane began to turn right into the 'little bit of south breeze.' He attempted to counteract the turn, but was unsuccessful. The left main landing gear impacted a 'one to two foot' dirt bank that paralleled the runway. Subsequently, the left main gear collapsed and the left wing tip struck the ground.
Factual narrative
On September 18, 1998, at 0815 central daylight time, a Snow S2C agricultural airplane, N9492R, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during the landing roll at a private airport near Bovina, Texas. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The airplane was owned and operated by Rhodes Crop Care of Bovina. No flight plan was filed and visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the Title 14 CFR Part 91 local maintenance test flight that departed the airport at 0805.
According to a co-owner of Rhodes Crop Care, the pilot completed a spray run over the runway to check the spray pattern and was landing in order to adjust the nozzles when the accident occurred. The pilot reported that after touchdown on runway 09, the tailwheel-equipped airplane began to turn right into the "little bit of south breeze." The pilot "applied left brake, which was mushy, to counteract the turn." The airplane exited the right side of the gravel runway and continued to turn right. The left main landing gear impacted a "one to two foot" dirt bank that paralleled the runway. Subsequently, the left main gear collapsed and the left wing tip struck the ground.
According to the FAA inspector who examined the airplane, the outboard section of the left wing was bent upward.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9492R
- Reported as
- Snow S2C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1132C
- Engine
- P&W R-985-14B, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Registered owner
- Rhodes Crop Care Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Departed
- NONE
- Airport
- NONE · Rhodes Crop Care, runway 9, 2,500 × 20 ft, gravel
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
- 21
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 1,150 total · 731 in this make and model · 1,120 as pilot in command · 200 in the last 90 days · 65 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
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 N9492R · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.