# NTSB CEN20LA013: Air Tractor AT 502, N9143F, Lamesa, TX, October 22, 2019 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Serious injuries · Class 3 · Limited · Final report - Date: October 22, 2019, 12:00 local (17:00 UTC) - Place: Lamesa, TX - Coordinates: 32.735, -101.743331 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=32.7350&lon=-101.7433&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Maneuvering](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/450) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Miscellaneous/other](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/900) - Highest injury: Serious injuries - Injuries: 1 serious, 1 uninjured; on the ground: 1 serious - Status: Completed - Report: Approved by Office Director - Investigation class: Class 3 - NTSB office: Central Region - Parties: Federal Aviation Administration, Lubbock FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 100477 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=CEN20LA013 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/100477/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=100477 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN20LA013 ## Probable cause The pilot's improper decision to maneuver at a low altitude and in close proximity to a wind turbine undergoing maintenance, which resulted in a collision with a tagline rope being held by a worker on the ground and serious injury to the worker. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Info processing/decision: decision making/judgment](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520): Personnel issues › Action/decision · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Air Tractor AT-502, 6 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520/cases.md?model=0390303), [All aircraft, 3,098 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520/cases.md) - [Attention/monitoring: monitoring environment](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02021545): Personnel issues › Psychological · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Air Tractor AT-502, 10 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02021545/cases.md?model=0390303), [All aircraft, 809 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02021545/cases.md) - [Object/animal/substance: wire](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03022032): Environmental issues › Physical environment · Contributed to outcome (probable cause); cases with it: [Air Tractor AT-502, 6 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03022032/cases.md?model=0390303), [All aircraft, 588 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03022032/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Miscellaneous/other](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/900) (defining event); cases with it: [Air Tractor AT-502, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/900/sequence.md?model=0390303), [All aircraft, 1,556 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/900/sequence.md) - [Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) ](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470); cases with it: [Air Tractor AT-502, 17 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md?model=0390303), [All aircraft, 10,189 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md) ## Analysis The pilot was returning from a local aerial application flight when he decided to fly at low altitude past a wind turbine that he believed his friend was working on. The airplane's right wing collided with a tagline rope that was attached to one of the wind turbine blades and being held by a worker on the ground. The worker was thrown about 20 ft and sustained several fractured vertebrae and a broken leg. The airplane's right wing sustained minor damage; however, the pilot was able to make a normal landing at his intended destination without incident. ## Factual narrative On October 22, 2019, about 1200 central daylight time, an Air Tractor AT-502B airplane, N9143F, collided with a tagline rope while maneuvering near a wind turbine located near Lamesa, Texas. The commercial pilot was not injured, but a worker on the ground was seriously injured. The airplane sustained minor damage. The airplane was operated by Plains Aerial Applicators Inc, Olton, Texas, as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 137 aerial application flight. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight that departed Lamesa Municipal Airport (LUV), Lamesa, Texas, at 1108. According to the pilot, the takeoff and aerial application portion of the flight was uneventful. The pilot reported that as he flew back toward LUV he sent a text message to a friend who was working on a wind turbine located along US Route 180 and about 10 miles east of LUV. The pilot stated that he intentionally flew at a low altitude past the wind turbine that he believed his friend was working on. The airplane's right wing collided with a tagline rope that was attached to one of the wind turbine blades and being held by a worker on the ground. Following the collision, the pilot was able to make a normal landing at LUV. The airplane sustained minor damage to the right wing leading and trailing edges. The pilot reported that he later found out that his friend had been working on a different wind turbine in the same area. According to the wind turbine company, the technician on the ground was holding onto a 500 ft long tagline rope that was attached to a wind turbine blade about 403 ft above the ground. The technician was standing about 294 ft from the base of the wind turbine when the airplane collided with the tagline rope. The technician was thrown about 20 ft and sustained several fractured vertebrae and a broken leg. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N9143F](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N9143F), registered now, S/N 502-0197, built 1992 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Air Tractor AT 502 (B) - Registry model: [Air Tractor AT-502](https://openairdocs.org/model/air-tractor-at-502) (registry code 0390303) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Pratt & Whitney PT6A series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/pratt-whitney-pt6a-series) (registry code 52032, turbo-prop) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 502-0197 - Year built: 1992 - Airframe hours: 11086 - Engines: Pratt & Whitney PT6A 680 horsepower turbo prop - Damage: Minor damage - Flight: Aerial application, Part 137 - Operator: Plains Aerial Applicators Inc., doing business as Plains Aerial Applicators Inc. - Registered owner: Wilmington Trust Co Trustee - Airworthiness certificate: Special, Restricted (Special) - Last inspection: 100 hour, September 7, 2019, 80 hours before - Departed: LUV, Lamesa, TX - Destination: LUV, Lamesa, TX - Equipment: Stall warning system ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 43; injuries: none; commercial; airplane ratings: single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, with waivers/limitations; last flight review February 14, 2018; seat: single; restraint: 5-point; flight hours: 1,680 total, 400 in this make and model, 1,450 as pilot in command, 78 in the last 90 days, 50 in the last 30 days, 7 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 130° at 8 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 11,000 ft overcast - Temperature: 63 °F, dew point 27 °F - Altimeter: 30.23 inHg - Observed at: LUV, 9 nm away ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20191022014409A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20191022014409A), Oct 22, 2019: Air Tractor Inc AT-502, Lamesa, TX, Minor damage. On October 22, 2019, at 1200 CDT, an Air tractor 502, bearing registration number N9143F, registered to wilmington trust co, trustee, collided with a tie line… ## Docket (3 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 28, 2019, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=100477. 601 KB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 451 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40477217&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Master.PDF - Memorandum of Conversation - Steven Coffman (item 2, .PDF, 76 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40477218&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Memorandum%20of%20Conversation%20-%20Steven%20Coffman-Master.PDF - Memorandum of Conversation - Kirk Gros (item 3, .PDF, 75 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40477219&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Memorandum%20of%20Conversation%20-%20Kirk%20Gros-Master.PDF 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. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.