- Date
- August 13, 2024, 11:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Durham, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N6633KGrumman Acft ENG Cor-Schweizer G-164B
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Low altitude operation/event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20240813017999A
- Case key
- 194957
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 clearance from powerlines, which resulted in a wire strike.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
According to the operator, the pilot was flying near high tension powerline wires during an aerial application flight. During the application of a rice field while flying north, the airplane’s right wing struck one of the powerlines. The airplane subsequently impacted the ground north of the powerline wires and sustained substantial damage to all four wings the empennage and the fuselage. The pilot exited the airplane, called the operator and reported that the accident was caused by pilot error. The Investigator-in-charge made several attempts to contact the pilot in command (PIC) via email and cell phone, but an email reply was not received from the PIC and the voicemail box was full. The pilot reported there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6633K
- Reported as
- Grumman Acft ENG Cor-Schweizer G-164B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 400B
- Built
- 1978
- Airframe hours
- 7,536.3
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney PT6A-15AG, 680 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 22, 2024
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- OVE · Oroville Muni
- Equipment
- Satellite tracking device, ADS-B
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
- 74
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 25, 2023
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 23,629 total · 1 in this make and model · 23,432 as pilot in command · 80 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.96 inHg
- Observed at
- KOVE, 3 nm away
- METAR
- KOVE 131853Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 27/10 A2996 RMK AO2 SLP144 T02720100
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 6, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.0 MB in all.
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 N6633K · 3
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.