Aviation Accident Summaries

Aviation Accident Summary CEN20CA311

Burlington, CO, USA

Aircraft #1

N9190Q

Air Tractor AT 401

Analysis

The pilot flew the agricultural airplane to the designated spray area. He made 3-4 passes on a corn field and surveyed the area for guy-wires (a tower was adjacent to the field). He flew multiple passes around the tower to look for guy-wires but he was not able to get an exact location on the tower’s guy-wires and started spraying the field from south to north, and then west to east. After spraying about 4 passes in the middle of the field and 3 passes on the west end of the field the airplane struck a guy-wire with the right wing. After the airplane hit the wire, the pilot had trouble maintaining altitude. The airplane collided through a single set of power lines and struck the ground, resulting in substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage.

Probable Cause and Findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from guy-wires during low-altitude agricultural operations.

 

Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database

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