Cessna T188 N2085J accident near Mccurtain, Oklahoma

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain the proper airspeed during a low altitude aerial application maneuver and his exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodymanic stall at too low of an altiutde to recover.

NTSB analysis

The commercial pilot was conducting an aerial application flight to a field that had a small hill on the north side. After the completion of the second pass, the pilot maneuvered the airplane out of the field to turn away from the hill and to get turned around for another pass. Upon starting the turn back towards the field, the pilot realized that he had not allowed adequate space to perform the turn given the airplane's "current load and environmental conditions." The pilot leveled the wings and attempted to fly over the hill; however, the airplane encountered an aerodynamic stall about 30 ft above ground level and subsequently impacted trees and rocky terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, the left wing, and the empennage. The pilot reported there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN20CA229 for the full record.