Grumman-Schweizer G-164B N6630Q

Summary

On 1 December 1998 at about 21:00 local time, a Grumman-Schweizer G-164B registered N6630Q, operated by Thrash Aviation Inc, was involved in an accident near Fort Gains, Georgia, 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

1 December 1998 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Fort Gains, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Fort Gains (79GA)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Grumman-Schweizer G-164B

Registration

N6630Q

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Thrash Aviation Inc

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA99LA041

Nobody was injured.

a power loss due to internal damage to the second- and third- stage turbine rotor blades, due to thermal heat, rendering the engine incapable of producing full power, resulting in a forced landing, and subsequent impact with the terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight was loaded with fertilizer and had taken off, when the engine lost power. The pilot made a forced landing, and the airplane's landing gear went into a ditch and separated. The pilot had made 3 previous takeoffs under similar load conditions without incident. The pilot said, 'initially during the takeoff roll the aircraft accelerated normally.' However, immediately after breaking ground, during the initial climbout, the engine began to loose power, and the aircraft began to loose lift. The airplane continued to sink with partial power until impact. Examination of the engine revealed no exterior damage. The engine teardown revealed that improper atomization of the fuel resulted in a non-atomized fuel stream at the first-stage turbine rotor. The subsequent atomization and ignition of this fuel resulted in a localized area of increased temperature and non-uniform thermal damage to the second- and third-stage turbine stators. The localized area of increased temperature resulted in thermal damage to the second- and third-stage turbine rotors, and increased second- and third-stage turbine rotor blade tip clearance, rendering the engine incapable of producing full power. There was no evidence that the engine control system components contributed to the loss of engine power reported during the accident flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.