- Date
- August 3, 1998, 10:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Nelson, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8388Grumman G-164A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 8, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 43602
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 an adequate ground clearance altitude while applying chemicals to a rice field.
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 reported that he had to fly over wires to enter the field where he was to apply chemicals. On his first pass over the rice field, he allowed the aircraft to get too low after clearing the wires and was unable to pull out before the main landing gear wheels touched the water and crops. The aircraft then crashed into the rice field. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions prior to the accident.
Factual narrative
On August 3, 1998, at 1030 hours Pacific daylight time, a Grumman G-164A, N8388, collided with a rice paddy while applying chemicals near Nelson, California. The aircraft was owned and operated by Williams AG Service of Biggs, California, and was on a local area aerial application flight under 14 CFR Part 137 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. The aircraft was destroyed in the ground collision sequence. The commercial pilot sustained serious injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from the Biggs airport on the day of the accident at 1000.
In the pilot's written statement to the Safety Board, he reported that he had to fly over wires to enter the field. On his first pass over the rice field, he allowed the aircraft to get too low and was unable to pull out. The main landing gear wheels touched the water and crops, and the aircraft crashed into the rice field.
The pilot stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8388
- Reported as
- Grumman G-164A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 880
- Airframe hours
- 9,309
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-20, 550 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Williams Ag Service
- Registered owner
- Clarence Williams
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 16, 1998 · 92 hours before
- Departed
- CL23 · Biggs, CA
- Airport
- CL23 · Biggs
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
- 39
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 4,062 total · 1,700 in this make and model · 4,062 as pilot in command · 600 in the last 90 days · 150 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F
Other investigations on N8388 · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.