Snow S2C N1665S

Summary

On 1 June 1999 at about 18:00 local time, a Snow S2C registered N1665S was involved in an accident near Paul, Idaho, 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 June 1999 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Paul, Idaho, United States

Coordinates

42.6596, -113.8100

Aircraft

Snow S2C

Registration

N1665S

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

SEA99LA079

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inaccurate weight and balance calculations, and his delay in jettisoning the load which resulted in his failure to clear rising terrain. Contributing to the accident was the high density altitude, and the pilot's intentional operation with known deficiencies in equipment.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that after the airplane lifted off, it was not flying as well as it had on the previous six flights that morning. The pilot immediately opened the emergency dump which also controls the rate of application. The pilot reported that as he flipped the metal tab out of the way of the dump handle, the tab would not flip clear of the handle because of interference with the seat frame. The pilot was aware of this problem, however, he stated that he could hold the stop up with one finger and force the handle around the stop. The airplane continued to fly in ground effect as the pilot continued to try to dump the load. About one mile off the end of the airstrip, the airplane collided with a slight rise in the terrain. The pilot stated that he thought that he could have cleared the rise if he could have dumped the load more quickly. The type certificate data sheet for this aircraft indicates a gross weight of 4,400 pounds. The pilot reported that he was not aware of the requirement, and had not demonstrated the maximum set gross weight for the conditions to the FAA per Part 137 certification. The pilot reported that he estimated the weight of the load based on visual volume that had been previously weighed (approximately 1,000 to 1,100 pounds). The density altitude was estimated and determined to be approximately 5,684 feet at the time of the accident which utilized the pilot's estimated temperature. The weather reporting facility closest to the accident site reported a temperature 10 degrees warmer than the pilot's estimate. Utilizing the weather reporting facility, the density altitude would have been about 6,277 feet.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.