- Date
- October 16, 1995, 09:50 local (16:50 UTC)
- Place
- Lost Hills, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8247KGrumman G-164B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 29, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19951016047129A
- Case key
- 29310
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 misjudged the aircraft's altitude.
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
The pilot said he misjudged his altitude during a course reversal maneuver and a wing tip entered the cotton plants. The aircraft then cartwheeled into the field.
Factual narrative
On October 16, 1995, at 0950 hours Pacific daylight time, a Grumman G-164B, N8247K, dragged a wing tip during an aerial application turn maneuver and crashed into a cotton field near Lost Hills, California. The aircraft was owned and operated by Vince Crop Dusters, Inc., of Buttonwillow, California, and was applying chemicals to a field under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 137 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. No flight plan was filed and visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The aircraft was demolished in the impact sequence. The certificated Airline Transport Pilot, the sole occupant, sustained minor injuries. The flight originated at Buttonwillow on the day of the accident about 0930 hours as a local area aerial application flight.
The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions of the aircraft prior to the accident. He said he misjudged his altitude during a course reversal maneuver and one wing tip entered the cotton plants. The aircraft then cartwheeled into the field.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8247K
- Reported as
- Grumman G-164B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 632-B
- Airframe hours
- 10,236
- Engine
- P&W PT-6A, 500 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Vince Crop Dusters, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Departed
- L62 · Buttonwillow, 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
- 49
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 18,000 total · 11,000 in this make and model · 17,000 as pilot in command · 300 in the last 90 days · 100 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 20 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.