Air Tractor AT 402 N1016G

Summary

On 29 July 2016 at about 14:14 local time, a Air Tractor AT 402 registered N1016G, operated by Watson Ag Aviation LLC, was involved in an accident near Sac City, Iowa, 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

29 July 2016 at 14:14

Classification

Accident

Location

Sac City, Iowa, United States

Nearest airport

Sac City Muni (SKI)

Coordinates

42.3600, -94.9847

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT 402

Registration

N1016G

Category

Airplane

Year built

1989

Operator

Watson Ag Aviation LLC

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Carroll → Sac City

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN16LA292

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate clearance from power lines. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to circle over the field to identify hazards before beginning the aerial application.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot was performing an aerial application flight to an area that a ground crewman described as a "wire farm" due to the number of power lines present. The pilot did not complete a circling pass over the target field to identify hazards before descending for the first aerial application pass. The pilot flew over a set of power lines, activated the airplane's spray function, and completed one pass to the north. The airplane then climbed and made a left turn before descending toward the west side of the target field for a pass to the south. The pilot completed a pass on the west side, then impacted power lines on the south side of the field. The airplane continued south and impacted a corn field, where it came to rest upright. The top of the vertical stabilizer and the rudder were found near the power lines. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed evidence of multiple wire strikes to the canopy, wire protection system, and empennage. At least one wire was deflected over the canopy, along the wire deflector cable, and cut through the vertical stabilizer and rudder. At least one wire impacted the aluminum wire protection bar and the cockpit structure consistent with the wire not deflecting over the canopy. The examination did not reveal any preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.