- Date
- July 22, 2003, 07:30 local (14:30 UTC)
- Place
- Hamilton City, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N477YGrumman G-164
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 28, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Feder Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20030722021879A
- Case key
- 57551
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 adequate airspeed to avert stalling during a low altitude turn.
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 a low altitude turning maneuver, the pilot stalled the airplane, and the airplane impacted the underlying rice field. At the time, the airplane was spraying with a full load of product for the agricultural application flight.
Factual narrative
On July 22, 2003, about 0730 Pacific daylight time, a Grumman G-164, N477Y, stalled and crashed into a rice field while maneuvering during an aerial application flight about 4 miles south of Hamilton City, California. The airplane was substantially damaged, and the commercial pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated by the accident pilot for the Joseph R. Krajcirik company, Chico, California. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. The flight was performed under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 137, and it originated about 0729.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration coordinator, the pilot stalled the airplane while spraying with a full load. At the time, the pilot was performing a low altitude turn. As of July 26, 2004, the National Transportation Safety Board has not received the "Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report" form, #6120.1/2 from the pilot.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N477Y
- Reported as
- Grumman G-164
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 122
- Airframe hours
- 9,200
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney R-1340AN-1, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Krajcirik, Joseph Robert
- Registered owner
- P. M. Dusters, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Departed
- Hamilton City, CA
- Destination
- Hamilton City, CA
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
- 35
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Single
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 0 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Altimeter
- 29.88 inHg
- Observed at
- CIC, 10 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 N477Y · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.