- Date
- August 22, 1996, 11:45 local (18:45 UTC)
- Place
- Waitsburg, WA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7501QGrumman-Schweizer G-164B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 28, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960822023569A
- Case key
- 42453
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 inadequate compensation for wind conditions and failure to maintain control of the airplane after encountering a whirlwind during the landing.
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
While on the landing roll at a private strip, after completion of a spraying operation, the aircraft suddenly veered off of the runway, encountered soft terrain, overturned, and began burning. The pilot reported that there were whirlwinds in the area at the time of the accident.
Factual narrative
On August 22, 1996, about 1145 Pacific daylight time, a Grumman-Schweizer G-164B, N7501Q, registered to and operated by Cropland Air Service Inc. as a 14 CFR Part 137 aerial application flight, collided with terrain and was substantially damaged while landing at the Cropland Whisky Creek airstrip near Waitsburg, Washington. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The commercial pilot received minor injuries.
The pilot stated in his accident report that, while landing, the aircraft veered to the right and went off the runway. He also stated there were whirlwinds in the area at the time.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7501Q
- Reported as
- Grumman-Schweizer G-164B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 813B
- Airframe hours
- 2,412
- Engine
- P&W R-1340-AN1, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Cropland Air Service Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 19, 1996 · 10 hours before
- Airport
- Cropland Whiskey Creek, runway 9, 2,000 × 30 ft, gravel
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
- 40
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 3,567 total · 2,580 in this make and model · 200 in the last 90 days · 150 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KAL, 12 nm away
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 N7501Q · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.