- Date
- September 20, 1993, 15:45 local (22:45 UTC)
- Place
- Buttonwillow, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8133KGulfstream-Schweizer G-164B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 2, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930920035279A
- Case key
- 28482
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 avoid wires.
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 airplane collided with high tension wires during an aerial application flight. The operator noted in the report that the 'pilot should have avoided wires.'
Factual narrative
On September 20, 1993, at 1545 hours Pacific daylight time, a Gulfstream-Schweitzer G-164B, N8133K, collided with high tension wires near Buttonwillow, California. The pilot was conducting a visual flight rules aerial application flight under Title 14 CFR Part 137. The airplane, operated by Vince Crop Dusters Inc., sustained substantial damage. The certificated commercial pilot, the sole occupant, received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at a privately owned airstrip at Buttonwillow, California, at an undetermined time.
The pilot or operator did not provide a statement with respect to the circumstances of the accident in the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1/2. The operator noted in the recommendations section of the report that the "pilot should have avoided wires."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8133K
- Reported as
- Gulfstream-Schweizer G-164B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 579B
- Airframe hours
- 5,781
- Engine
- P&W R-1340 AN1, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Vince Cropdusters, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Vince Cropdusters, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 27, 1993 · 21 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
- 58
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 21,242 total · 7,000 in this make and model · 21,160 as pilot in command · 800 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
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 N8133K · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.