Weatherly 620B N9040V

Summary

On 13 March 2000 at about 18:02 local time, a Weatherly 620B registered N9040V was involved in an accident near Odell, Oregon, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

13 March 2000 at 18:02

Classification

Accident

Location

Odell, Oregon, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Weatherly 620B

Registration

N9040V

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hood River → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA00LA051

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain sufficient altitude over, or clearance with, a tree. Factors contributing to the occurrence of the accident were the tree and sharply rising terrain. A factor contributing to the severity of the accident was a post-crash fuel fire.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Witnesses reported that after making a series of spray passes over a block of pears in an east-west direction, the pilot made a north-to-south spray pass over the eastern boundary of the pear block. This pass was toward sharply rising terrain. On the north-to-south pass, the aircraft struck a tree near the south end of the orchard and began coming apart. It then struck more trees as it climbed, losing additional parts of its wing, and subsequently impacted the ground. A post-crash fire erupted immediately upon ground impact and consumed the forward portion of the airplane including the cockpit area. One witness reported that the aircraft's engine appeared to be running at full power until ground impact. An autopsy on the pilot determined the cause of his death to be 'asphyxia due to inhalation of products of combustion', noting 'no evidence of significant anatomic injury.'

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.