Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Senath, Missouri 63876
Saturday, June 18, 2005 19:04 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The agricultural spray airplane was destroyed by ground impact and post impact fire after it hit a guy wire of a 1,040 foot radio tower antenna located near the cotton field the pilot was about to spray. A witness reported that he heard the airplane flying in the area and then he heard an explosion. He made a 911 emergency call, and then went outside and observed the tower falling to the ground. The inspection of the airplane revealed impact marks on the mid-span of the left wing, which were consistent with a wire strike. The propeller also exhibited gouging and scraping marks that were consistent with a wire strike. Witnesses reported that the pilot conducted a map study of the area to be sprayed since it was a "sensitive" area due to honeybees and homes near the cotton field that required spraying. The Memphis Sectional Aeronautical Chart the pilot used depicted the 1,040-foot tower. There were three sets of guy wires that anchored the tower. The three sets of guy wires were anchored at 120-degree intervals around the base of the tower. The bases of the guy wire anchors were about 425 feet from the base of the tower. An extra guy wire supported the tower. The anchor for the extra guy wire was located about 729 feet from the base of the tower in the southeast corner field where the tower was located. The FAA Advisory Circular AC 70/7460-1K, "Obstruction Marking and Lighting" advises that a pilot should maintain 2,000 feet horizontal clearance for a 2,000-foot tall tower to avoid all guy wires.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the tower guy wires. A factor was the extra antenna guy wire.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/18/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1904 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Senath |
| Event State | MISSOURI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 63876 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 360783N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0901145W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1853 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 210 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | JBR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 262 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 20 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19876 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 18 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 28 2006 1:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA St. Louis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9778G |
| NTSB Number | CHI05LA149 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 188 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18801603 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | McCormick Aviation Activities |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 893 County Rd 457 E |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tyler |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 36785 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | RWYG |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | 37M |
| Departure City | Hornersville |
| Departure State | MO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1900 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 3 2006 9:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |