Cessna A188B N8960G

Summary

On 31 July 1997 at about 16:15 local time, a Cessna A188B registered N8960G was involved in an accident near Satanta, Kansas, 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

31 July 1997 at 16:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Satanta, Kansas, United States

Nearest airport

Satanta (1K9)

Coordinates

37.4304, -100.9802

Aircraft

Cessna A188B

Registration

N8960G

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI97LA240

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's decision to perform a precautionary landing in a corn field due to an undetermined event in the cockpit. Factors relating to the accident were: the pilot's inadvertent actuation of the 'smoker' switch, his unfamiliarity with the 'smoke' equipment on the airplane, and corn crop in the emergency landing area.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot said that he had been spraying a field. As he was 'ferrying back [to the airport], smoke started coming into the cockpit.' The pilot, believing that there was a fire in the airplane, 'cut power and landed in [a] cornfield.' Examination of the airplane revealed no anomaly. The owner of the airplane spoke to the pilot following the accident. He said that the pilot may have activated the 'smoker' [a piece of equipment used to determine wind drift] on the airplane. During the conversation, the pilot told the owner that he might have inadvertently bumped the 'smoker' switch getting ready to land. The owner said that 'when you turn it [the smoker] on, you smell it. It smells like smoke.'

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.