Grumman G164 accident near Springfield, CO
On July 10, 2020, a Grumman G164 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Springfield, CO. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- July 10, 2020
- Place
- Springfield, CO
- Aircraft
- Grumman G164 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 37.443°N, 102.614°W
- NTSB ID
- 20200713X03310
Official records · CEN20LA278
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn July 10, 2020, about 1102 mountain daylight time, a Schweizer Grumman G-164B airplane, N6917K, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Springfield, Colorado. The commercial pilot sustained serious injuries and succumbed to his injuries on July 14, 2020. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 137 aerial application flight. The pilot, who was also the owner of the company, was enroute to Two Buttes, Colorado to perform a high elevation low-level aerial application flight in a rural area after departing from the Springfield Municipal Airport (8V7), Springfield, Colorado. An employee who worked for the operator doing ground loading operations, reported the airplane was loaded with 48.85 gallons of AgSaver Glyphosate herbicide, 15.62 gallons of Atarrus fertilizer, and 125 gallons of Kugler KQ-XRN fertilizer. The airplane had about 85 gallons of fuel onboard. He reported the pilot was having trouble with foam coming onto the windshield of the airplane. The pilot had returned prior to the accident to add more de-foaming agent to the hopper and had activated the circulating pump to correct the problem. It was undetermined how much de-foaming agent was added at the time. During the takeoff roll for the accident flight, it was unknown if the pilot had the spray pump fan activated, thereby causing agitation to the chemical mixture. A witness reported observing white smoke coming from the cockpit prior to impact, however the smoke was "granular in nature" and "looked solid." The airplane impacted a remote flat f
Probable cause
The pilot’s loss of visibility in the cockpit due to foam created by the chemicals loaded in the hopper, which resulted in collision with terrain. Contributing to the accident was the combining of chemicals known to produce foam and the pilot’s failure to perform a jar test prior to flight as recommended.
More accidents in CO
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Browse: Colorado · Grumman aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
