Air Tractor AT-301 N3169C

Summary

On 24 October 2011 at about 16:10 local time, a Air Tractor AT-301 registered N3169C, operated by Terrys AG Service Inc, was involved in an accident near McAlpin, Florida, 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

24 October 2011 at 16:10

Classification

Accident

Location

McAlpin, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

None

Coordinates

30.1375, -82.8892

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-301

Registration

N3169C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Terrys AG Service Inc

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Branford → Branford

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA12CA050

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's misjudgment of the airplane's distance from known transmission lines.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, he had successfully completed six aerial application passes below transmission lines that ran diagonally above a rectangular agricultural field. The pilot had also successfully completed 11 or 12 similar application flights over the same field during previous years, including 1 earlier that month. As the pilot turned the airplane toward its seventh pass, sun position and spray residue on the windshield resulted in his briefly losing sight of the transmission lines. The pilot regained sight of the transmission lines and continued the pass; however, the airplane struck the lines, damaging the wing spar. The pilot did not report any preexisting mechanical anomalies with the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.