N8222K

On August 13, 2013, about 1530 central daylight time, a Gulfstream G164B agricultural airplane, N8222K, was substantially damaged following a forced landing after a loss of engine power near Eagle Lake, Texas. The commercial pilot was not injured. The airplane was registered to a private individual and operated by LL Flying Service of East Bernard, Texas, under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a repositioning flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated at 1525 from the Eagle Lake Airport (ELA), and was en route to a private agricultural airstrip near Wallace, Texas.

The pilot reported that about two minutes into the flight to Wallace, the engine lost RPM. He saw smoke coming out of the engine cowl and oil began to splatter onto the windshield. As the airplane started to descend, the pilot maneuvered the airplane to land in a plowed field. After touchdown, the pilot intentionally ground-looped the airplane to avoid striking a canal bank, resulting in collapsed landing gear and substantial damage to the wing and empennage structures. The airplane came to rest upright in the field and the pilot exited uninjured.

An examination of the airplane and radial engine revealed that one of the cylinders had failed. No other engine anomalies were discovered other than the failed cylinder.

The pilot reported that the most recent annual inspection was completed on May 2, 2013, at a total airframe time of 16,692 hours. No other information about the engine and its previous maintenance history was discovered during the investigation.