- Date
- October 20, 2012, 10:00 local (14:00 UTC)
- Place
- Newton, GA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N502PBAir Tractor AT-502B
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20121020024589A
- Case key
- 85378
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 power lines while maneuvering, which resulted in a hard forced landing.
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 stated that he was performing an agricultural application over a cotton field bordered by a set of power lines. After making a pass over the field, the pilot ascended to fly over the power lines. While turning back toward the field, he “misjudged” the location of a static cable. The airplane’s main landing gear contacted the cable, and the airplane entered a rapid descent. The pilot initiated a forced landing in the cotton field, resulting in a hard landing and substantial damage to the wings and empennage. The pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal flight.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated that he was performing an agricultural application over a cotton field bordered by a set of power lines. After making a pass over the field, the pilot ascended to fly over the power lines. While turning back towards the field, he “misjudged” the location of a static cable. The airplane’s main landing gear contacted the cable, and the airplane entered a rapid decent. The pilot initiated a forced landing in the cotton field, resulting in a hard landing and substantial damage to the wings and empennage. The pilot report no mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N502PB
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-502B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 502B-0500
- Airframe hours
- 9,059
- Engine
- P&W Canada PT6A-34AG, 680 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Double R Flight Service Inc
- Registered owner
- Double R Flight Service Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 12, 2012 · 52 hours before
- Departed
- Colquitt, GA
- Destination
- Colquitt, GA
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
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 27, 2012
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 18,535 total · 1,576 in this make and model · 18,427 as pilot in command · 400 in the last 90 days · 125 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.97 inHg
- Observed at
- KBIJ, 18 nm away
Docket · 7
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 10, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 15.1 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.