Air Tractor AT-301 N3165G

Summary

On 18 October 2000 at about 16:30 local time, a Air Tractor AT-301 registered N3165G was involved in an accident near Littlefield, Texas, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 October 2000 at 16:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Littlefield, Texas, United States

Coordinates

33.9100, -102.3303

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-301

Registration

N3165G

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW01LA011

1 person died.

the pilot's failure to maintain clearance with a guy wire while maneuvering during an aerial application flight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The agricultural airplane was spraying a cotton field approximately 5 feet about the ground, when the right wing struck a guy wire extending out from a transmission line, which ran along the south edge of the field. This was the pilot's first pass on the field, and he was flying from west to east parallel to the transmission line and perpendicular to the guy wire. The guy wire extended into the cotton field and stabilized a pole. The wire struck about 4 feet in from the right wing tip and tore the end of the wing off. The airplane impacted the ground within 600 feet of the wire strike and a fire erupted.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.