WPR19LA242 · Lockheed C130 A
International Air Response Lockheed C130 A · Accident: part(s) separation from aircraft during initial climb
From Santa Maria Public Airport Captain G Allan Hancock Field (SMX) to Mesa Gateway Airport (IWA)
Event
- NTSB case
- WPR19LA242
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Lockheed C130 A
- Aircraft type
- Lockheed C130
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N119TG
- Operator
- International Air Response
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Santa Maria Public Airport Captain G Allan Hancock Field (SMX), Santa Maria, CATo Mesa Gateway Airport (IWA), Phoenix, AZ
- Aircraft age
- About 62 years (built 1957)
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Initial climb
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Part(s) separation from aircraft
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
During the final leg of a cross-country flight, the flight crew heard a loud popping noise and a loud bang. Simultaneously, the torque gauges provided unusual and fluctuating readings. A crew member in the cargo compartment announced misting hydraulic fluid mixed with smoke. The crew donned their supplemental oxygen and the cockpit crew turned off the bleed air from the four engines. The crew subsequently diverted to a nearby airport and trouble shot multiple anomalies, including engine fire warning lights from the N0s. 3 and 4 engines and the loss of normal hydraulic pressure. The captain elected to feather the No. 4 engine but did not shut down the No. 3 engine at that time to retain three-engine performance. During landing, the captain was unable to maintain directional control and the airplane departed the runway. The captain then intentionally ground looped the airplane to avoid hitting the main terminal building and airplanes that were parked on the ramp. The airplane undercarriage, right wing, and nose area were substantially damaged. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the No. 3 bleed air duct had failed. Further examination of the bleed air duct revealed stress corrosion cracking preceded by corrosion pitting on the interior surfaces. The microscopic features observed were consistent with pre-existing cracking prior to the final circumferential fracture of the duct. When the duct failed due to corrosion, hot air was directed onto surrounding electrical wires and hydraulic lines, which subsequently resulted in numerous system failures. The captain was subsequently unable to maintain directional control during the landing roll.
Probable cause
The failure of the No. 3 bleed air duct due to corrosion, which resulted in numerous system failures and the pilot’s inability to maintain directional control during the landing roll.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record WPR19LA242
- Event ID
- 20190826X12752
- Case number
- WPR19LA242
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: local date, investigation status, cause areas. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 2019-08-26.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 5445a7e6957d850d4301cbe51cd5b704465bc445e4bb6ef1af7f9f296d74baab; retrieved 2026-09-16T09:52:02.851Z.