Air Tractor Inc AT-502 N407CT accident near Washington, Louisiana

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from a wire during an aerial application of a field.

NTSB analysis

The pilot reported that on the first aerial application flight of the day, he saw a wire on the edge of the field to be sprayed and decided that he could fly under the wire to perform the spray pass. During the pass, the airplane’s rudder struck the wire and tore the rudder off. The airplane returned to the departure airport and during landing, lost directional control due to missing rudder and ground looped. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the rudder from the wire strike and to the fuselage during the ground loop. The pilot reported that there was no preaccident failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN22LA352 for the full record.