- Date
- July 25, 1996, 09:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Cornelius, OR
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N9624PPiper PA-25-235
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 28, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960725025959A
- Case key
- 42429
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 inadequate preflight planning, and his failure to see-and-avoid the obstruction (inadequate visual lookout). The transmission wire was a related factor.
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 spraying a field near the departure airport. On the first run, he pulled up over powerlines at the end of the field, due to a car that was passing by. During the second spray run, the airplane hit a transmission cable near the end of the field and crashed. The pilot reported that he was not aware that the cable was there until just before impact.
Factual narrative
On July 25, 1996, approximately 0930 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-25-235, N9624P, operated by Stevens Flying Service, hit a cable while spraying a field near Cornelius, OR. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant, was seriously injured. The 14 CFR 137 flight had departed a private landing area near Hillsboro, OR earlier in the day.
FAA inspectors who went to the scene of the accident stated that the aircraft wreckage was laying near broken wires and poles on the south side of the field that the pilot had been spraying. In the pilot's accident report he stated that he was not aware that the cable was there until just before he hit it.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9624P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-25-235
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25-7405790
- Airframe hours
- 1,200
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Donald Leon Stevens
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 20, 1996 · 48 hours before
- Departed
- HIO · Hillsboro, OR
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
- 50
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 15,000 total · 12,000 in this make and model · 14,000 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 50 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HIO, 5 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.