- Date
- July 31, 2001, 17:26 local (21:26 UTC)
- Place
- Whitakers, NC
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N9072TAir Tractor AT-402A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 23, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20010731019599A
- Case key
- 52948
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 an adequate visual lookout and the proper clearance from obstacles while conducting aerial applications, which resulted in an inflight collision with a power utility pole.
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 stated that it had been his eighth agricultural load of the day, and upon reaching the field to be treated he circled the field looking for obstructions as usual, and then began spraying operations. The pilot further stated that upon the third pass or swath the aircraft struck a power utility pole which was covered with vines, and located in a corner, surrounded by trees on two sides.
Factual narrative
On July 31, 2001, about 1726 eastern daylight time, an Air Tractor Inc., AT-402A, N9072T, registered to, and operated by Air-Ag Inc., as a Title 14 CFR Part 137 agricultural flight, collided with a light pole, and crashed into a field in Whitakers, North Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The pilot, the sole occupant of the aircraft, received serious injuries, and the aircraft was destroyed. The flight originated from Tarboro, North Carolina, the same day, about 1700.
According to a deputy with the Nash County Sheriff's Office, the pilot stated that he was spraying a tobacco field, and after his fifth or sixth pass across the field, he hit a telephone pole, and possibly some wires. The deputy further stated that the pilot said he knew that the pole and wires were there, but he had forgotten, and saw them just prior to impacting them with his left wing. The deputy said that the aircraft was destroyed as a result of the impact.
The pilot stated that it had been his eighth agricultural load of the day, and upon reaching the field to be treated he circled the field looking for obstructions as usual, and then began spraying operations. The pilot further stated that upon the third pass or swath the aircraft struck a power utility pole which was covered with vines, and located in a corner, surrounded by trees on two sides. The pilot said that the aircraft contacted the crop and ground within 100 feet after hitting the pole.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9072T
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-402A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 402A-1114
- Airframe hours
- 824
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-11A6, 550 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Air-Ag Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 8, 2000 · 186 hours before
- Departed
- ETC · Tarboro, NC
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
- 39
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- May 29, 2000
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 9,000 total · 1,200 in this make and model · 200 in the last 90 days · 85 in the last 30 days · 10 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.23 inHg
- Observed at
- RDU, 53 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.