- Date
- July 27, 2020, 11:08 local (17:08 UTC)
- Place
- Burlington, CO
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N9190QAir Tractor AT 401
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Low altitude operation/event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20200727008399A
- Case key
- 101682
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 guy-wires during low-altitude agricultural operations.
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
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9190Q
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT 401 (Undesignat)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 401-0925
- Built
- 1989
- Airframe hours
- 4,014
- Engine
- P&W 1340, 650 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Air Care Inc
- Registered owner
- Miller Tom O
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 10, 2020
- Departed
- ITR · Burlington, CO
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- Burlington
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
- 28
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 7, 2019
- Seat
- Center
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 1,880 total · 636 in this make and model · 250 in the last 90 days · 75 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 70° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,900 ft broken
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 28.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ITR, 14 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 29, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.0 MB 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 N9190Q · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.