- Date
- February 12, 2009, 08:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- Buttonwillow, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3626TSchweizer G-164B
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Loss of engine power (partial)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 6, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviaiton Administration
- FAA report
- 20090212001289A
- Case key
- 73349
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
A loss of engine power due to the number four cylinder base nuts becoming loose, allowing the cylinder to detach from the engine case. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's impaired visibility due to smoke during the forced landing.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
While en route to an agriculture application job, the airplane's engine exhaust started shaking, then smoke started coming off the engine. The pilot landed on a farm road. During the landing his visibility was limited by the smoke, and the right wheel went off the road into soft mud. The airplane swerved to the right and nosed over. Examination of the engine disclosed that the number four cylinder base nuts had backed off, allowing the cylinder to separate from the engine case.
Factual narrative
On February 12, 2009, at 0815 Pacific standard time, a Schweizer G-164B, N3626T, performed an emergency landing on a dirt road and nosed over, near Buttonwillow, California. Vince Crop Dusters, Inc., operated the airplane under the provisions of title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137. The commercial pilot was not injured, and the airplane was substantially damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight originated at the Vince Crop Dusters home air strip, Buttonwillow. The pilot reported to the National Transportation Safety Board investigator that while en route to a agriculture application job, the engine exhaust started shaking, then smoke started coming off the engine. The pilot landed on a farm road. During the landing his visibility was limited from the smoke, and the right wheel went off the road into soft mud. The airplane swerved to the right and nosed over. The operator reported that upon examination of the engine it was determined that the number 4 cylinder base nuts had backed off allowing the cylinder to separate from the engine case.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3626T
- Reported as
- Schweizer G-164B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 722B
- Airframe hours
- 9,290
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney R1340, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Vince Crop Dusters, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Vince Crop Dusters, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 14, 2008
- Departed
- Buttonwillow, CA
- Destination
- Buttonwillow, CA
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
- 45
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2
- Last flight review
- February 7, 2009
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 8,500 total · 5,000 in this make and model · 8,500 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Observed at
- KBFL, 22 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 N3626T · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.