Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Waitsburg, Washington 99361
Wednesday, February 28, 2001 15:15 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was engaged in a pull-up maneuver while applying fertilizer over a field. Unmarked power lines crossed the north end of the field on an east/west line. The pilot lost sight of the lines against the upsloping background terrain and impacted all three lines. The upper wing was severed from the aircraft and the aircraft subsequently crashed out of control.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the power lines during a pull-up, resulting in an in-flight collision with the lines, loss of control and subsequent in-flight collision with terrain. Contributing factors were the power lines and the pilot's degraded visual detection due to the background terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/28/2001
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1515
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Waitsburg
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99361
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 461230N
Event Location Longitude 1181630W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.05
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10341
NTSB Notification Source FAA SEA ROC
NTSB Notification Date Feb 28 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1710
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jul 30 2001 11:11AM
User who most recently changed record MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Spokane FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N48651
NTSB Number SEA01LA055
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 137: Agricultural
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Grumman-Schweizer
Aircraft Model G-164A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1685
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Dec 20 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 40
Airframe Hours 4744
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Visser, Brandon
Aircraft Owner Street Address PO BOX 243
Aircraft Owner City St. Anthony
Aircraft Owner State ID
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 83445
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code WYQG
Owner has at least one certificate --
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Agriculture
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Aerial Application
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code 2WA9
Departure City Waitsburg
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1445
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering - aerial application
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 1 2001 6:03PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --