Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Soledad, California 93960
Thursday, December 6, 2007 10:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was seeding an area located adjacent to mountainous terrain. Prior to making the first pass, he had flown a reconnaissance flight to inspect the area. After completion of the first pass as he was maneuvering in a turn back towards the field, he was checking the seeding pattern and making adjustments to the GPS system inside the cockpit. When he checked the gauges again, he realized that the airplane had lost airspeed and rolled out to a wings level configuration to regain the lost airspeed. The airplane was headed towards rising terrain. He jettisoned the remaining seed and made a controlled collision with terrain in a ravine. The airplane was destroyed in a post impact fire. He reported that he had preoccupied himself with less important flight duties at a critical time during the flight. The pilot reported no mechanical problems that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate clearance from mountainous terrain while maneuvering during an aerial application mission. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's diverted attention inside the cockpit.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/6/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Soledad |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93960 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 362227N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1212451W |
| 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 | 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22986 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 6 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 30 2008 4:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SJC-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6024M |
| NTSB Number | LAX08CA034 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Air Tractor |
| Aircraft Model | AT-401 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 401-0949 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9000 |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | US Bancorp Equipment Finance Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 250 Airport Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | King City |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93930 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SOILSERV INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | King City |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | LSHG |
| 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 | KIC |
| Departure City | KING CITY |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1015 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KIC |
| 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 | Jan 16 2008 2:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| 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 | -- |