- Date
- September 8, 1983, 21:00 local (Sep 9, 1983, 04:00 UTC)
- Place
- Huron, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N56070Piper PA-36
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830908049619A
- Case key
- 23849
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 plt was spraying lettuce fields on a dark night. According to him, the wind was blowing from the north northwest & gusting to 12 KTS. He reported that during a turn-around over a plowed field, the wind was blowing dust which affected his visibility & depth perception. Subsequently, a wing dragged the ground & the acft crashed. The plt said the reason he was not injured was because he was wearing his safety helmet & had his safety harness tight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N56070
- Reported as
- Piper PA-36
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 36-7360027
- Airframe hours
- 1,848
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-720-A1B, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- San Joaquin Dusters
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 14, 1983 · 11 hours before
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
- 45
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 6,576 total · 500 in this make and model · 6,385 as pilot in command · 189 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 330° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MLC
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.