Air Tractor AT-400 N2373V

Summary

On 17 July 1998 at about 05:05 local time, a Air Tractor AT-400 registered N2373V was involved in an accident near Tranquillity, California, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 July 1998 at 05:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Tranquillity, California, United States

Coordinates

36.6500, -120.2796

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-400

Registration

N2373V

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tranquility → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX98LA233

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to detect and avoid a set of wires during a night aerial application flight. Factors in the accident were the pilot's failure to perform an adequate preflight inspection of the field to determine obstruction locations and the dark night lighting conditions.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot said that this was the first flight at a new field, and he had not visually inspected the field before spraying it. He made a pass over the field to check for wires, and did not see any. On the second pass he saw a steel power cable strung between poles that was in his flight path. The pilot stated that it was too late to pull up to avoid the cable, and he pushed the nose of the aircraft down to fly underneath it. The aircraft, equipped with a wire deflector, struck a telephone wire underneath the initial steel cable. The wire deflector and the vertical stabilizer separated from the aircraft. The pilot began to lose directional and roll control, and he pushed the nose towards the ground and made a forced landing. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the engine or flight controls prior to striking the wires. The night was dark with no moon.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.