Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from power lines.
NTSB analysis
During an aerial application flight over a river, the pilot was spreading seed when the airplane struck and severed all four wires of an electrical transmission power line. During the forced landing, the airplane impacted tall vegetation. The fuselage, empennage, and both wings were substantially damaged. According to the pilot and photographs of the area, neither the transmission wires nor the poles were visible above the tree line adjacent to the river banks. The pilot stated that he had been warned about the transmission lines that extended over the river and should have located them before the application portion of the flight began.
Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN12CA533 for the full record.
Event
- Date
- Aug 7, 2012
- Type
- Accident
- Place
- Newkirk, Oklahoma
- Highest injury
- None
- Weather
- Visual (VMC)
- Light
- Day
Thrush Aircraft Inc S-2R
- N-number
- N5596X
- Category
- Airplane
- Damage
- Substantial
- Operating rule
- Part 137 (agricultural)
- Purpose of flight
- Aerial application
From the NTSB aviation accident database: N-registered aircraft, events since 2008, data through Oct 28, 2026. The file is published monthly, so the latest weeks are incomplete and recent records can change. The official source is the NTSB aviation investigation search. CheckAero is independent and not affiliated with the NTSB.