- Date
- August 19, 2003, 15:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Blytheville, AR
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N4114AAyres S2R-T660
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration - Little Rock FSDO
- FAA report
- 20030819023369A
- Case key
- 57780
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 visual lookout and altitude/clearance not being maintained from the transmission wires. A factor to the accident was the transmission wires.
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 aerial application airplane impacted transmission wires while performing a spray run. The pilot stated he had flown over the transmission wires on three separate spray runs and was familiar with their location. The pilot reported that he initiated a spray run to the west and "looked down to check pressure gauge on spray boom [and] when I looked up [the] wires were in my face." The pilot stated he should have kept his "attention/concentration on flying the aircraft and not the spray system."
Factual narrative
On August 19, 2003, at 1530 central daylight time, an Ayres S2R-T660, N4114A, piloted by a commercial pilot, sustained substantial damaged during an in-flight collision with transmission wires and terrain near Blytheville, Arkansas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The aerial application flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 137 without a flight plan. The pilot reported minor injuries. The local flight departed Blytheville Municipal Airport (HKA), Blytheville, Arkansas, about 1310.
According to the pilot's written statement, he had flown over the transmission wires on three separate spray runs and was familiar with their location. The pilot reported that he initiated a spray run to the west and "looked down to check pressure gauge on spray boom [and] when I looked up [the] wires were in my face." The pilot stated he should have kept his "attention/concentration on flying the aircraft and not the spray system."
The pilot reported there were no malfunctions or failures during the accident flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4114A
- Reported as
- Ayres S2R-T660
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- T660-102
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney PT6A, 1,050 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Henry's Aerial Service, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Departed
- HKA · Blytheville, AR
- Destination
- HKA · AR
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
- 59
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- March 3, 2003
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 25,700 total · 1,250 in this make and model · 300 in the last 90 days · 40 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 79 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- HKA
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 6, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 337 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.