N7859

On May 9, 1997, at 1752 central daylight time (cdt), a Grumman G164-A, N7859, operated by a commercial pilot, sustained substantial damage when during initial climb the airplane's engine lost power. The airplane subsequently impacted in a field and nosed over. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The aerial application flight was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 137. A flight plan was not on file. The pilot reported no injuries. The local flight originated at Prairie View, Kansas, at 1750 cdt.

The pilot stated in a telephone conversation that he had taken off to the north with 100 gallons of chemical. He was about 30 feet above the ground when the airplane experienced power loss. The pilot said that the engine began to backfire. "The engine may have backfired three to four times." His airplane began to lose altitude. The pilot said he set the mixture to rich, dropped part of the load (chemical) and used the throttle which seemed to help. He decided to land the airplane on a road just north of the airport. As he lined up with the road, he saw a car coming. He then decided to land on the adjacent plowed field. He touched down on three points, "hit a terrace" which "tore the engine off," nosed over, tore the stabilizers off, uprighted and came to a stop.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who examined the wreckage at the site found the airplane resting upright in a plowed field approximately 1 and 1/2 miles north of Van Pak Airport, Prairie View, Kansas, approximately 30 feet west of a north-south running road. The engine had broken free of the engine mounts and was resting beside the airplane on the propeller. The propeller showed chordwise scratches, torsional bending and tip bending on one blade. The fuselage, forward of the cabin was crushed upward and bent aft. The right main landing gear was broken off. The upper wing carry-through spar was bent upward and aft. The center part of the upper wing was crushed up and aft. The outboard 1/3rd of the lower left wing was bent upward and twisted forward. The lower right wing was bent upward approximately 40-degrees at the wing root. The airplane's cabin and aft fuselage were intact. The empennage, to include the horizontal stabilizers, elevator, vertical stabilizer and rudder were bent forward and twisted right. Flight control continuity was confirmed. Examination of the engine, engine controls and other airplane systems revealed no anomalies.

As of October 17, 1997, the pilot has failed to return the NTSB Form 6120.1/2 sent to him.