- Date
- July 29, 2014, 07:40 local (12:40 UTC)
- Place
- Minden, NE
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N502NRAir Tractor AT 502B
- Defining event
- Enroute: Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 1, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20140729015639A
- Case key
- 89878
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 survey of the aerial application field which resulted in a collision with a windmill.
Findings · 1
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 a pass of the aerial application flight, the airplane collided with a windmill at the edge of the field. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported no pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. In addition, the pilot stated he did not observe the windmill during his survey of the field prior to beginning the application to field.
Factual narrative
During a pass of the aerial application flight, the airplane collided with a windmill at the edge of the field. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported no pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. In addition, the pilot stated he did not observe the windmill during his survey of the field prior to beginning the application to field.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N502NR
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT 502B (B)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 502B-2817
- Built
- 2012
- Airframe hours
- 488.8
- Engine
- Pratt and Whitney PT6A-34A6, 720 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 1, 2014
- Departed
- 0V3 · Minden, NE
- Destination
- Minden, NE
- 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
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 18, 2014
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 14,000 total · 1,660 in this make and model · 14,000 as pilot in command · 154 in the last 90 days · 82 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.23 inHg
- Observed at
- KEAR, 6 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 18, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 497 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.