- Date
- July 21, 1987, 08:45 local (13:45 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Rosa, TX
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N4407SAir Tractor AT301
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 29, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870721039729A
- Case key
- 22212
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 was dusting a sugar cane field which bordered a dirt road with parallel electrical transmission lines. The pilot had been terminating his swath runs by flying underneath the electrical wires at the edge of the field. To prevent becoming a hazard to an automobile on the road, he planned to terminate the swath run on which the accident occurred by pulling up and flying over the wires. He delayed in initiating the pull-up and as a result, impacted the upper (static) wire of the power line. The aircraft impacted the ground beyond the roadway in another sugar cane field.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4407S
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT301
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 301-0067
- Airframe hours
- 4,332
- Engine
- P&W R1340-AMI, 550 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Larry Skalitsky
- Registered owner
- Rio Grande Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 23, 1987 · 100 hours before
- Departed
- Santa Rosa, 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
- 42
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 9,200 total · 1,000 in this make and model · 8,350 as pilot in command · 250 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HRL, 10 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 N4407S · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.