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ATL84FA105

1984-02-19 · DAWSON, Georgia, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 16J

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

A FAILED CYLINDER HEAD ASSEMBLY RESULTED IN A TOTAL POWER LOSS VERY SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF. WITNESSES OBSERVED THE AERIAL APPLICATION ACFT AT 30-50 FT AGL OVER THE RWY BEFORE IT PULLED UP STEEPLY, ROLLED AND ENTERED A NEAR VERTICAL UNCONTROLLED DESCENT TO IMPACT. A POST CRASH FIRE CONSUMED MOST OF THE WRECKAGE. DESPITE OPEN LEVEL TERRAIN OFF THE END OF THE RWY, THE PLT ATTEMPTED TO RETURN TO THE RWY FOR A FORCED LDG. A METALLURGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE FAILED CYLINDER HEAD REVEALED EXTENSIVE FATIGUE CRACKING INITIATED IN THE CYLINDER LINER THREAD ROOTS AND BETWEEN THE COOLING FINS AT THE TOP OF THE CYLINDER. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1984_ATL84FA105.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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