# Accident 19960628015459A: Piper PA36375, Windfall, IN, June 28, 1996

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: June 28, 1996, 12:40 local time
- Place: Windfall, IN
- Damage: Destroyed
- Operating rules: Agricultural (Part 137)
- Location: 40.3594° N, 85.9509° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.3594&lon=-85.9509&mi=10
- Aircraft: N2459X, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N2459X-1997-03-18) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-36-375 (registry code 7103620, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-36-375) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA36375
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB CHI96LA224](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI96LA224) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19960628015459A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

ON SPRAYING A FIELD WITH FULL LOAD, PULLED FULL POWER, ABRUPT PULLUP, SHARP LEFT TURN TO VERTICAL, CRASH AND BURNED (-23)ON 06/28/96, AT 1740 UTC, MR. ROBERT W. BRYANT WAS FLYING HIS PIPER PA-36-375 PAWNEE BRAVE ENROUTE TO A FARM FIELD TO SPRAY A CHEMICAL INSECTICIDE CALLED POUNCE. HE HAD DEPARTED THE STAGING FIELD APPROXIMATELY 10 MINUTES EARLIER AFTER LOADING 910 POUNDS OF CHEMICAL AND TOPPING OFF THE FUEL. THE WEATHER WAS 15,000 THIN SCATTERED, VISIBILITY 12 MILES, TEMPERATURE 90 DEG. F., WIND CALM. ACCORDING TO MR. MIKE CLAWSON, THE MANAGER OF THE FERTILIZER COMPANY THAT MR. BRYANT WAS WORKING FOR, MR. BRYANT DID NOT HAVE AERONAUTICAL CHARTS OF THE AREA, AND HE BORROWED PLAT MAPS OF THE AREA TO LOCATE THE FIELD. AN EYEWITNESS HEARD THE AIRCRAFT APPROACHING (IN A DIRECTION THAT WOULD HAVE TAKEN HIM TO THE FIELD TO BE SPRAYED), AND SAW THE AIRCRAFT ABRUPTLY PULL UP, FOLLOWED BY A SHARP LEFT TURN TO A NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE, AND THEN LOST SIGHT OF THE AIRCRAFT BEHIND A HOUSE. THE AIRCRAFT STRUCK THE GROUND IN A VERTICAL POSITION, RUPTURED BOTH FUEL TANKS AND WAS MOSTLY CONSUMED IN A FIRE. LESS THAN 100 YARDS FROM THE ACCIDENT SITE WAS A HIGH TENSION                                    POWER LINE RUNNING ACROSS THE FLIGHT PATH OF THE AIRCRAFT. THE LARGE LINES WERE PLAINLY VISIBLE, AND THE AIRCRAFT'S PATH WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SWAG OF THE WIRES BETWEEN THE HIGH TENSION TOWERS. A SET OF MUCH SMALLER WIRES WERE STRETCHED ACROSS AT THE TOP OF THE TOWERS, APPROXIMATELY 50 FEET ABOVE THE MAIN WIRES. IT APPEARED THAT THE PILOT SAW THE SMALLER WIRES AND ATTEMPTED TO PULL UP TO AVOID THEM, AND STALLED THE AIRCRAFT, WHEREUPON THE AIRCRAFT SPUN TO THE LEFT AND IMPACTED THE GROUND.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB CHI96LA224](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI96LA224), Jun 28, 1996: Piper PA-36-375 (N2459X), Windfall, IN, destroyed, 1 fatal. Probable cause: failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed, while maneuvering to avoid an obstruction (transmission line), which resulted in a stall and collision with the terrain. His lack of familiarity…

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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