None Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Tunica, Mississippi 38676
Wednesday, August 13, 2008 17:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot of the agricultural airplane flew along a set of power lines, which ran over a wooded area that restricted his ability to see both sides of a field that he was going to spray. After flying along the power lines, he determined that he had enough clearance to "fit under the wire." He thought that it looked "good," and began his spray run on the east side of a field passing under the power lines without incident. He then began a spray run on the west side of the field, but as he approached the power lines he realized that the "wire was too low to go under." Rather than risk hooking his main landing gear on the wires and flipping the airplane onto its back, he chose to "fly into the wire." The airplane received substantial damage to the propeller, engine, empennage, wings and landing gear.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the power lines during low-altitude maneuvers.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/13/2008
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1730
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Tunica
Event State MISSISSIPPI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 38676
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 344106N
Event Location Longitude 0902052W
Event Location Airport NONE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID NONE
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 1850 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 45
Weather Observation Facility ID OLV
Elevation of weather observation facility 402
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 43
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 30
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) 29.81
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 24479
NTSB Notification Source FAA Southern ROC
NTSB Notification Date Aug 13 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 9 2008 3:48PM
User who most recently changed record grer
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Jackson, MS

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N61267
NTSB Number NYC08CA279
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 137: Agricultural
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name AIR TRACTOR
Aircraft Model AT-502B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 502B-0303
Certified Max Gross Weight 8000
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jul 1 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 6550
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Broadway and Freiman Aircraft
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Lake Cormorant
Aircraft Owner State MS
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 38641
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Delta Dusters Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Walls
Operator State MS
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 38680
Operator Code ZDWG
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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 NONE
Departure City Sledge
Departure State MS
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Tunica
Destination State MS
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering - aerial application
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 9 2008 3:48PM
User who most recently changed record grer
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --