- Date
- July 21, 2001, 10:50 local (15:50 UTC)
- Place
- Plainfield, WI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8703VSnow 600-S2C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 16, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration - Milwaukee FSDO
- FAA report
- 20010721019289A
- Case key
- 52903
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 not maintaining aircraft control while maneuvering on the aerial application flight. A factor to the accident was the encountered stall/mush at a low altitude.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot reported that while in a turn after a spray run, "... the aircraft felt to slow and the controls were mushy. I lowered the nose, shallowed the turn and added full power. However, I was unable to recover from the near stall before contact with the ground occured. The aircraft contacted the ground in a flat, level attitude with an east heading in an unfarmed field about 200 yards west of the potato field. The terrain was flat and there were no obstacles." The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions on his accident report.
Factual narrative
On July 21, 2001, at 1050 central daylight time, a Snow 600-S2C, N8703V, piloted by a commercial pilot, sustained substantial damage during an in-flight collision with the terrain following a loss of control while maneuvering near Plainfield, Wisconsin. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The aerial application flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 137 and was not on a flight plan. The pilot, the sole occupant, reported no injuries. The flight departed Bancroft, Wisconsin, at 1035 and was spraying agricultural fungicide at the time of the accident.
According to the pilot's written statement, he was spraying a potato field with a load of 150 gallons of fungicide and 70 gallons of fuel at the time of the accident. The pilot reported that while in a turn after a spray run, "... the aircraft felt to slow and the controls were mushy. I lowered the nose, shallowed the turn and added full power. However, I was unable to recover from the near stall before contact with the ground occured. The aircraft contacted the ground in a flat, level attitude with an east heading in an unfarmed field about 200 yards west of the potato field. The terrain was flat and there were no obstacles."
The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions on his accident report.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8703V
- Reported as
- Snow 600-S2C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1290C
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney R985-AN3, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Farmers Flying Service, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 10, 2001
- Departed
- Bancroft, WI
- Destination
- Bancroft, WI
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
- 37
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- January 17, 2001
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 1,760 total · 38 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.92 inHg
- Observed at
- ISW, 17 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.