- Date
- February 24, 2013, 17:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Greenbrier, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N7310NAir Tractor AT-301
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Low altitude operation/event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 18, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20130224003309A
- Case key
- 86403
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 adequate clearance from trees.
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
Near the conclusion of the aerial application flight, the pilot was climbing the airplane away from the field when the right wing struck a tree, resulting in substantial damage. He subsequently returned to the private strip where the airplane was based and landed uneventfully. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
Near the conclusion of the aerial application flight, the pilot was climbing the airplane away from the field when the right wing struck a tree, resulting in substantial damage. He subsequently returned to the private strip where the airplane was based and landed uneventfully. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7310N
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-301
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 301-0649
- Airframe hours
- 6,351
- Engine
- Pratt and Whitney R-1340 AN1, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Lannie Towe, doing business as Towe Boy's Agri Service
- Registered owner
- Lanier Flying Service Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 20, 2012
- Departed
- NONE · Greenbrier, AL
- Destination
- NONE · Greenbrier, AL
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
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 3, 2012
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 7,042 total · 320 in this make and model · 6,809 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.01 inHg
- Observed at
- HSV, 3 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 7, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 747 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.
Other investigations on N7310N · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.