| Crash location | 35.817500°N, 90.641111°W
Reported location is a long distance from the NTSB's reported nearest city. This often means that the location has a typo, or is incorrect. |
| Nearest city | Fontaine, AR
36.000627°N, 90.813449°W 15.9 miles away |
| Tail number | N3629K |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 24 May 2005 |
| Aircraft type | Grumman 164-B |
| Additional details: | None |
On May 24, 2005, approximately 12:30 central daylight time, a single-engine Grumman G164-B turbo-prop agricultural airplane, N2629K, was substantially damaged following a loss of control during take-off from a private strip near Fontaine, Arkansas. The commercial pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, was not injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by Scott Flying Service, Inc., of Bono, Arkansas, under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 as an aerial application flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan had not been filed for the local flight.
The 9,100-hour commercial pilot reported that he had been operating the airplane with similar loads from the same 2,600-foot long, by 20-foot wide asphalt runway for about 4 hours prior to his lunch break. On the first flight of the afternoon, with the aircraft full of fuel (80 gallons) and a load of 2,250 pounds of fertilizer, he set engine takeoff power and departed downwind on runway 22 (with a 10 mph tailwind).
During the initial takeoff climb, the airplane's main landing gear "clipped" the top of a levee just beyond the departure end of Runway 22. The pilot stated that he lowered the nose and flew in ground-effect until he could accelerate and fly "up-and-over" some powerlines. After clearing the powerlines in his flight path, the airplane started to "settle," and the pilot elected to dump the load of fertilizer and start a shallow turn into the prevailing wind. With the airplane continuing to "settle," the pilot elected to land on a dirt road; however, the airplane struck some trees and an electric wire, causing the airplane to pitch down and impact the ground.
The pilot added that the "air was unstable and thin, not much lift."
An examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, who traveled to the scene of the accident, revealed structural damage to the upper and lower left wings. The airplane came to rest on its right side on a partially flooded rice field located about 0.8 miles southeast of the point of departure. There was no fire.
At 1253, the automated weather observing system at JBR, approximately 10 miles southeast of the accident site, reported wind at 020 degrees at 10 knots, 10 statute miles visibility, few clouds at 2,000 feet, broken clouds at 2,500 feet, 84 Fahrenheit, dew point 54 degrees Fahrenheit, and an altimeter setting of 29.86 inches of Mercury. The investigator-in-charge calculated the density altitude at the time of the accident at 1,964 feet.
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance during a downwind takeoff with a full load of fertilizer. Factor contributing to the accident were the prevailing tailwind and the high density altitude.