- Date
- July 4, 2013, 09:45 local (14:45 UTC)
- Place
- Colfax, LA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8187KGulfstream-Schweizer A/C Gulfstream AM G-164B
- Defining event
- Maneuvering: Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 13, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20130704012649A
- Case key
- 87399
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 failure to maintain clearance from a tree.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
During the aerial application flight, the pilot was applying herbicide to a field. The pilot stated that he misjudged the height of a tree on the northwest corner of the field. The airplane hit the tree, rolled inverted, and then impacted the ground.
Factual narrative
On July 4, 2013, about 0945 central daylight time, a Gulfstream-Schweizer Aircraft Corporation G-164B airplane, N8187K, was substantially damaged when it hit a tree and then terrain near Colfax, Louisiana. The pilot sustained minor injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by Huttos Flying Services LLC., under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 as an aerial application flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated without a flight plan. The local flight had departed a private strip near Alexandria, Louisiana. During the aerial application flight, the pilot was applying herbicide to a 40-acre field. The pilot stated that he was "trimming up the edges" when he misjudged the height of a Pecan tree on the northwest corner of the field. The airplane hit the tree, rolled inverted, and then impacted the ground. The right wing and right aileron sustained substantial damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8187K
- Reported as
- Gulfstream-Schweizer A/C Gulfstream AM G-164B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 606B
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN2, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Huttos Flying Service LLC
- Registered owner
- Huttos Flying Service LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 15, 2013
- Departed
- PVT · Alexandria, LA
- Destination
- PVT · Alexandria, LA
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 43
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 4,200 total · 1,300 in this make and model · 4,100 as pilot in command · 400 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- AEX, 15 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 4, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 253 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N8187K · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.