Air Tractor AT-502 N1021D

Summary

On 14 August 2012 at about 21:00 local time, a Air Tractor AT-502 registered N1021D, operated by Northstar Aerospray Inc, was involved in an accident near Hanley Falls, Minnesota, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

14 August 2012 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Hanley Falls, Minnesota, United States

Nearest airport

Private (PVT)

Coordinates

44.7028, -95.7194

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-502

Registration

N1021D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Northstar Aerospray Inc

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Clara City → Clara City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN12CA546

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from a guy wire during an agricultural application pass.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was conducting an agricultural application pass at the time of the accident. He was flying near a set of power line support poles on the edge of the field in order to establish a global positioning system reference line for subsequent application passes. He was looking to the left to maintain clearance with the support poles when he observed guy wires in his flight path. He immediately pulled up and rolled to the right; however, the left wing struck a guy wire. The airplane impacted the ground inverted, sustaining substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, and both wings. The pilot stated that there were no failures or malfunctions associated with the airplane before the accident. He noted that making the guy wires more visible and greater awareness on his part might have prevented the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.