- Date
- July 10, 1982, 15:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Edmonson, TX
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N4979YPiper PA-25
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 10, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820710026389A
- Case key
- 70553
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 pilot had been spraying the field for about 1 hr and was on the last pass. The owner/flagger stated that he had warned the pilot (by using a two way radio) to watch out for a standpipe and radio antenna, and the pilot acknowledged. He reported the plane was on its last pass and appeared to be high enough to clear the antenna. In the vicinity of the antenna, he observed the plane pull up steeply, roll to the right, then go down and impact the ground. An investigation revealed that the plane crashed about 125 ft beyond a fiberglass whip antenna. The antenna was about 1 inch in diameter at its base and tapered to very thin at the top, about 75 to 85 ft AGL. About 12 ft had separated from the top of the antenna. After impacting the ground, the plane burned and was demolished. No preimpact malfunction or failures were found. The pilot died about 10 min after being removed from the burning plane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4979Y
- Reported as
- Piper PA-25
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25-4730
- Airframe hours
- 4,018
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- Both
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Joe Ramsey
- Registered owner
- Joe Ramsey
- Departed
- Plainview, TX
- Destination
- Plainview, TX
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
- 52
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 26,000 total · 6,000 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Temperature
- 180 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.