Cessna A188 N9278G

Summary

On 27 July 2020 at about 12:45 local time, a Cessna A188 registered N9278G, operated by Becker Flying Service Inc, was involved in an accident near Hartington, Nebraska, 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

27 July 2020 at 12:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Hartington, Nebraska, United States

Nearest airport

Hartington Muni/ Bud Becker Fl (0B4)

Coordinates

42.6031, -97.2536

Aircraft

Cessna A188

Registration

N9278G

Category

Airplane

Year built

1973

Engines

1

Operator

Becker Flying Service Inc

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hartington → Hartington

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN20CA331

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to ensure that the engine oil cap was installed before takeoff, which resulted in the oil obscuring the pilot’s view through the windshield and necessitated a forced landing on unsuitable terrain. Contributing to the accident were the pilot’s complacency and self-induced pressure to complete the flight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, before conducting a local, aerial application flight, he changed the engine oil. After refueling and loading the airplane with chemicals, the pilot departed. Shortly after takeoff, the windshield became covered with oil, which limited the pilot's visibility. He turned the airplane left toward a grass runway. The pilot did not dump the chemical load, and the airplane had a low airspeed and began to lose altitude. The pilot was not able to attain a climb, so he chose to conduct a forced landing in a cornfield near the end of the runway, during which the wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that the reason the oil covered the windshield was that he had not reinstalled the oil cap after changing the oil. He added that he “had gotten out of …[his] routine” while performing the oil change and that ”complacency” and being in a “hurry were also some factors" in the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.