- Date
- August 4, 2005, 07:20 local (11:20 UTC)
- Place
- Sabana Grande, PR
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N460YGrumman American G-164
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 27, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20050804018639A
- Case key
- 62164
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 inadvertent encounter with a downdraft in mountainous terrain resulting in an uncontrolled descent and collision with the terrain.
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 stated that he departed from the Lajas Agriculture Airport at about 7 am in his Grumman G-164 with a northeast heading. On board the airplane was a load of mircoflex fertilizer, which was to be sprayed on a private farm in Sabana Grande. His first swift run over the farm was successful but as he begun his first procedure turn, he experienced a strong downdraft on the leeward side of the mountain. Unable to recover from the downdraft, the airplane lost altitude and crashed into a backyard of a private home. Neither he nor anyone on the ground was hurt and the private home sustained little damage. He further added the weather was for a visual flight rules operation; with the winds from the north and the temperature was 30 degrees Celsius. The pilot stated there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions to the airplane or any of its systems prior to the accident.The FAA inspector who responded to the accident stated the airplane impacted the ground straight down in a flat attitude and with no forward direction.
Factual narrative
On August 4, 2005, about 0720 Atlantic standard time, a Grumman G-164, N460Y, registered to a private individual and operated by Ponce Crop Dusting Services, as a Title 14 CFR Part 137 agricultural, aerial application flight, stalled during a low altitude maneuver and impacted with terrain near Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The commercial-rated pilot received minor injuries. The airplane incurred substantial damage and a private home incurred damage. The flight originated from the Lajas Agriculture Airport, Lajas, Puerto Rico, earlier that day, about 0700.
The pilot stated that he departed from the Lajas Agriculture Airport at about 7 am in his Grumman G-164 with a northeast heading. On board the airplane was a load of mircoflex fertilizer, which was to be sprayed on a private farm in Sabana Grande. His first swift run over the farm was successful but as he begun his first procedure turn, he experienced a strong downdraft on the leeward side of the mountain. Unable to recover from the downdraft, the airplane lost altitude and crashed into a backyard of a private home. Neither he nor anyone on the ground was hurt and the private home sustained little damage. He further added the weather was for a visual flight rules operation; with the winds from the north and the temperature was 30 degrees Celsius. The pilot stated there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions to the airplane or any of its systems prior to the accident.
The FAA inspector who responded to the accident stated the airplane impacted the ground straight down in a flat attitude and with no forward direction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N460Y
- Reported as
- Grumman American G-164
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 151
- Engine
- Jacobs R-755-A2, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Ponce Crop Dusting Services
- Registered owner
- Segundo Garcia Ruiz
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Departed
- Lajas, PR
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
- 77
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 13,000 total · 10,000 in this make and model · 5 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.03 inHg
- Observed at
- TJPS
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 7, 2005, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 320 KB in all.
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 N460Y · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.