- Date
- March 5, 2021, 09:15 local (15:15 UTC)
- Place
- Moorhead, MS
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N41068Air Tractor AT-402B
- 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
- 20210305003149A
- Case key
- 102717
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 did not maintain clearance from a powerline during an aerial application flight.
Findings · 2
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 reported that, during an agricultural application flight, he started his spray pass from the north and traveled south and added that the sun was bright. During the pass, he avoided numerous obstacles, before he passed over a patch of woods. There was an east-west running powerline located about 100 yards out in the field that the pilot did not see until it was too late to avoid it. The airplane impacted the top of the wires and a pole and a part of a pole embedded itself into the left wing. The pilot was able to land the airplane without further incident. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N41068
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-402B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 402B-1174
- Airframe hours
- 5,230
- Engine
- P & W PT6, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Inverness Air, INC
- Registered owner
- Inverness Air, INC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 1, 2020
- Departed
- Inverness, MS
- Airport
- NA
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
- 56
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 6, 2020
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 14,639 total · 4,260 in this make and model · 15,589 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 60 °F
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 19, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.9 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.