Robinson R66 N4QW

Summary

On 18 June 2020 at about 21:00 local time, a Robinson R66 registered N4QW, operated by Kritter Cropdusting Inc, was involved in an accident near Pikeville, North Carolina, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 June 2020 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Pikeville, North Carolina, United States

Coordinates

35.4447, -77.9250

Aircraft

Robinson R66

Registration

N4QW

Category

Helicopter

Year built

2013

Engines

1

Operator

Kritter Cropdusting Inc

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Pikeville → Pikeville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA20LA220

1 person died.

The pilot’s failure to see and avoid a small diameter wire during low altitude agricultural spraying operations. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s insufficient property survey.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was applying insecticide to a farm field and the accident flight was the first time the pilot had sprayed the field. Once he arrived at the site, 3 hours late, the pilot conducted two circular passes to survey the field, then landed, and the ground crew loaded the insecticide into the hopper. The pilot was not briefed of any hazards to operations prior to the flight by the ground crew or farmer. After takeoff, the pilot started applying the chemicals. The helicopter was performing the spraying operation and was flying on a northerly heading when it impacted a non-energized wire. The wire was mounted about 30 feet up a 40 ft pole that also contained a hunting stand and stretched about 250 ft across the field from west to east where it connected to a tree bordering the field. The wire had been installed at least 20 years earlier and was installed high enough that a tractor or combine had clearance to move beneath it during harvest. Clear daylight conditions existed at the time of the accident. The sun was at 39.85° above the horizon at an azimuth of 272.39° and was very close to being directly in line with the wire. It is possible that the sun’s position relative to the wire would have made the 5/16-inch wire more difficult to see as the shadow of the wire and pole would have been nearly directly under the wire rather than offset. The pilot, unfamiliar with the field, running late, and without the benefit of a detailed discussion with the landowner, relied solely on his brief visual surveillance of the field while operating the helicopter. Although the pilot likely observed the pole and hunting stand during his surveillance, it is likely that he did not see the wire due to its small diameter. Therefore, shortly after initiating the application of the insecticide, the pilot’s failure to see and avoid the wire resulted in the helicopter impacting the wire and the pilot’s subsequent loss of control and impact with terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.