- Date
- March 2, 1994, 14:35 local (22:35 UTC)
- Place
- Walla Walla, WA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6612QGrumman G-164
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 26, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940302003459A
- Case key
- 41885
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 for a forced landing after a loss of power due to a failed engine cylinder. Factors include a partial magneto failure.
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 aircraft developed a severe miss while descending to application height. The pilot attempted a forced landing, but the aircraft nosed over. When the engine was inspected, one cylinder was found split. The pilot stated that he believed that the magneto micarta gear failed, causing cross-firing, blowing the door off the air cleaner and splitting a cylinder.
Factual narrative
On March 2, 1994, approximately 1435 Pacific standard time, a Grumman G-164, N6612Q, nosed over and sustained substantial damage after a loss of power while in a descent, eight miles southwest of Walla Walla, Washington. The commercial pilot, who was uninjured, was conducting aerial application operations under 14CFR137. There was no fire, and no ELT was installed in the aircraft.
The pilot stated that while on descent, the aircraft lost power, and he attempted a forced landing, but the aircraft nosed over during rollout from the landing, due to soft ground. He stated that he was on his sixth load of the day, and the second flying day of the season.
When the engine was inspected it was determined that an engine cylinder had split. The pilot/operator believed that a magneto micarta gear had failed, resulting in the engine cross firing, blowing the door off the air cleaner when it backfired and splitting the cylinder.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6612Q
- Reported as
- Grumman G-164
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 163B
- Airframe hours
- 4,840
- Engine
- P&W R-1340-AN1, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Blue Mountain Aviation
- Registered owner
- Blue Mountain Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 3, 1994 · 7 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
- 39
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 2,690 total · 1,200 in this make and model · 2,630 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 46 °F
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 N6612Q · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.