- Date
- March 17, 1993, 16:10 local (Mar 18, 1993, 00:10 UTC)
- Place
- Quincy, WA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N7503LSchweizer G-164B-600
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Not reported
- Status
- Completed · report October 13, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930317005569A
- Case key
- 42999
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
Unsuitable terrain encountered during a forced landing after an engine cylinder assembly had separated. Factors include a snowbank.
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 was returning to his agricultural landing strip after applying dry fertilizer on a field. About a mile from the runway, the engine started running rough. Within a half mile of the airport, the engine roughness worsened to the point of total failure. The aircraft would no longer maintain altitude, so the pilot attempted a forced landing in an alfalfa field adjacent to the runway. After touchdown, the aircraft rolled into a snowdrift and nosed over. Investigation revealed that the number seven cylinder had separated from the engine crankcase.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7503L
- Reported as
- Schweizer G-164B-600
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 826B
- Airframe hours
- 551
- Engine
- P&W R-1340, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Stephans Flying Service
- Registered owner
- Mid Continent Air Service
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 23, 1992 · 15 hours before
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
- 38
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 7,505 total · 7,200 in this make and model · 7,505 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Not reported
- Wind
- 300° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft overcast
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 N7503L · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.