- Date
- May 29, 2007, 05:15 local (10:15 UTC)
- Place
- Banquete, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N502DBAir Tractor AT-502B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 27, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- San Antonio, Texas
- FAA report
- 20070529010809A
- Case key
- 65876
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 failure to maintain clearance from the power transmission line(s). A contributing factor was the low altitude selected by the pilot.
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 single-engine agricultural airplane collided with a set of power transmission lines while performing an aerial application flight. The 25,223-hour commercial pilot reported that while maneuvering underneath one set of power lines and over a second set of power lines, the airplane collided with the first set of power lines, separating the vertical stabilizer and the rudder. The pilot attempted to control the airplane with power, elevator and ailerons but was not successful. The pilot lost control of the airplane during the forced landing in an adjacent cotton field. The airplane sustain structural damage and the pilot was not injured. Weather at the airport was reported as winds calm, visibility 10 statute miles with clear skies, temperature 30 degrees Celsius, dew point 21 degrees Celsius, and altimeter 29.86 inches of Mercury.
Factual narrative
The single-engine agricultural airplane collided with a set of power transmission lines while performing an aerial application flight. The 25,223-hour commercial pilot reported that while maneuvering underneath one set of power lines and over a second set of power lines, the airplane collided with the first set of power lines, separating the vertical stabilizer and the rudder. The pilot attempted to control the airplane with power, elevator and ailerons but was not successful. The pilot lost control of the airplane during the forced landing in an adjacent cotton field. The airplane sustain structural damage and the pilot was not injured. Weather at the airport was reported as winds calm, visibility 10 statute miles with clear skies, temperature 30 degrees Celsius, dew point 21 degrees Celsius, and altimeter 29.86 inches of Mercury.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N502DB
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-502B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 502B
- Airframe hours
- 6,525.4
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney PT6-34AG, 750 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Unk
- Registered owner
- Nueces Agr Service Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 1, 2006
- Departed
- Banquete, TX
- Destination
- Banquete, TX
- Airport
- CRP · Corpus Christi Intl
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
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 1, 2007
- Flight hours
- 25,223 total · 11,000 in this make and model · 25,121 as pilot in command · 78 in the last 90 days · 62 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.85 inHg
- Observed at
- KCRP
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.