- Date
- August 11, 1999, 09:50 local (14:50 UTC)
- Place
- Garden City, KS
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N4923XRockwell S-2R
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 18, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990811011759A
- Case key
- 47026
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 misjudging his pull-up maneuver resulting in contact with the wire. A contributing factor was the wire.
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 had completed its swath run. The airplane struck power lines located at the edge of the field being sprayed during a pull-up maneuver. The pilot said, '...I misjudged my initial point of pull up and contacted the top wire between two poles with the [airplanes] right [main] landing gear.' The pilot said the wires were hard to see. The on-scene investigation revealed the wires were suspended between 2 poles about 1/4 mile apart.
Factual narrative
On August 11, 1999, at 0950 central daylight time (cdt), a Rockwell S-2R Thrush, N4923X, piloted by a commercial pilot, was substantially damaged when it struck a power line during a pull-up maneuver at the end of a spraying swath run. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The 14 CFR Part 137 aerial application flight was not operating on a flight plan. The pilot reported no injuries. The flight departed Garden City, Kansas, at 0900 cdt.
The pilot said, "I was on my third swath run from the north side of the field heading west, when I misjudged my initial point of pull up and contacted the top wire between two poles with the [airplanes'] right main [landing] gear. There was a big jolt, and I felt the plane begin to slow down, so I proceeded to lower the nose of the aircraft to maintain my airspeed and hopefully break the wire. Approximately 300 yards west of the power line it finally broke."
According to the Federal Aviation Administration Principal Maintenance Inspector who examined N4923X and the power line, the pilot said he did not see the wire in time to avoid striking it. The poles suspending the wires were about 1/4 mile apart.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4923X
- Reported as
- Rockwell S-2R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2119R
- Airframe hours
- 6,573
- Engine
- P&W R-1340AN1, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Deines Aero Spray, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 1, 1999 · 140 hours before
- Departed
- GCK
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
- 25
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 1,621 total · 1,032 in this make and model · 1,594 as pilot in command · 236 in the last 90 days · 127 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GCK, 8 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.
Other investigations on N4923X · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.