Grumman-Schweizer G-164B N188TB

Summary

On 31 May 1996 at about 00:11 local time, a Grumman-Schweizer G-164B registered N188TB was involved in an accident near Bunkie, Louisiana, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

31 May 1996 at 00:11

Classification

Accident

Location

Bunkie, Louisiana, United States

Coordinates

30.9501, -92.1799

Aircraft

Grumman-Schweizer G-164B

Registration

N188TB

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW96LA231

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that he was applying herbicides to rice fields approximately 2 miles from the farm strip he had departed from. He added that the airplane 'began to quit flying' during the turn to reverse direction for the second swath. He further stated that he 'lowered the nose, applied full power and dumped the load;' however, the airplane 'failed to respond' and continued to descent toward the ground. According to the operator, the pilot managed to level the wings prior to impact with the ground. Both main landing gear sank in the soft ground and the airplane nosed over coming to rest in the inverted position. Postaccident examination of the wreckage by the operator revealed that the pitch on one of the propeller blades was in the feather position; however, the investigation was not able to determine if this condition was the result of impact damage.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.