- Date
- September 2, 1992, 16:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Centre, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N4845QCessna A188B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 26, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920902039199A
- Case key
- 8657
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's inadequate compensation for existing wind conditions, which resulted in his inability to maintain a proper altitude. Factors were the turbulence and wind shear present at the time of the accident.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The ag pilot had been spraying cotton fields for about an hour, and was performing another pass. He reported 'rolling and turbulent' winds near the tree lines. As he pulled the stick aft to arrest the sink rate, the aircraft continued to descend. The landing gear bogged down in the cotton and the aircraft contacted the ground, resulting in structural damage to the airframe. The pilot reported that just prior to the collision, he lost about 20 knots of airspeed due to wind shear.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4845Q
- Reported as
- Cessna A188B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18802581T
- Airframe hours
- 4,800
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-D, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Hoppe, Donald L.
- Registered owner
- Timmons, Charles C.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · September 1, 1992 · 4 hours before
- Departed
- A04 · Centre, AL
- Destination
- A04
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 50
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Invalid Medical for flight
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 9,000 total · 3,000 in this make and model · 400 in the last 90 days · 200 in the last 30 days · 15 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 5 knots, gusting 9
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.