ERA24LA286 · Grumman G-164A
Grumman G-164A · Accident: loss of control on ground during landing
From an unrecorded airport to Walnut Ridge Regional Airport (ARG)
Event
- NTSB case
- ERA24LA286
- 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
- 0
- 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
Grumman G-164A
- Aircraft type
- Grumman G-164
- 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
- N7849
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From not recordedTo Walnut Ridge Regional Airport (ARG), Walnut Ridge, AR
- Aircraft age
- About 53 years (built 1971)
- 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
- Landing · landing roll
- 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
- Loss of control on ground
- 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
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The pilot of the turbo propeller-powered agricultural airplane reported that, during takeoff for a cross-county flight, the engine rpm did not reach 100% but he continued the flight. Shortly after takeoff, the engine appeared to surge and the pilot decided to return to the departure airport. As he approached the airport, the surging worsened and, after touchdown, the engine power started to increase. He tried to shut down the engine, but the power continued to increase. He applied heavy braking to slow the airplane; the left brake then locked, and the airplane departed the runway and the airplane’s wings were substantially damaged. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed damage indicative of an engine that was rotating and operating at the time of impact; no pre-existing condition was found that would have prevented normal engine operation or control. The engine manufacturer issued a Pilot Advisory Letter more than 10 years before the accident addressing the issue of engine oscillations. The letter noted: When performing a takeoff, pilots normally advance the power lever(s) to a takeoff value as specified in the POH/AFM and as indicated on the torque (or equivalent) gauge. If a takeoff is attempted with the Engine Speed Control(s) in any position other than full forward, resulting in the engine not achieving 100-101% RPM, the engine(s) may very well achieve the desired indicated torque; however, the engine(s) will actually develop a reduced level of horsepower. A reduced level of horsepower will result in the degradation of aircraft performance. The letter added that, “One and possibly two adverse effects can result if a takeoff is attempted with the Engine Speed Control(s) in any position other than full forward. They are reduced power output from the engine(s) and the possibility of accompanying engine oscillations.” Since the previous 22 hours of flying did not demonstrate this type of engine behavior, postaccident examination of the engine found no issues that would have prevented normal operation, and the pilot reported both not achieving 100% speed as well as engine oscillations during and after takeoff, the pilot likely did not advance the engine speed control fully forward during takeoff.
Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to set the engine speed control fully forward during takeoff, resulting in an engine surge and subsequent loss of control during landing.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record ERA24LA286
- Event ID
- 20240701194586
- Case number
- ERA24LA286
- 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: investigation status, coordinates, cause areas. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 513dfac4ed30abe8bb9b128cd38ddce011903f1c53ec3d16680b8455c0553da3; retrieved 2026-09-16T18:59:13.619Z.