- Date
- October 23, 1983, 16:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Brewster, WA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N49385Boeing A75N1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19831023055389A
- Case key
- 39779
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 positioning the acft for swath runs when it crashed into rising terrain on the side of a hill next to a valley. The plt had planned to make swath runs over an orchard in the valley. During impact, he received serious head injuries & could not recall the circumstances of the mishap. However, he was able to exit the acft before fire had spread to the cockpit. Witnesses about 1 mi from the crash site reported hearing a steady engine sound until the acft impacted. The acft remained intact & the ground scars showed that it had moved about 6 ft forward & 4 ft left after impacting.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N49385
- Reported as
- Boeing A75N1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 75-2211
- Airframe hours
- 9,355
- Engine
- P&W R-985-AN-14B, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- David C. Smith
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 28, 1983 · 400 hours before
- Departed
- S97 · Brewster, WA
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
- 41
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 12,000 total · 67 in this make and model · 225 in the last 90 days · 90 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- EAT, 40 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 N49385 · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.