Probable cause
The pilot's misjudgment of the airplane's distance from known transmission lines.
NTSB analysis
According to the pilot, he had successfully completed six aerial application passes below transmission lines that ran diagonally above a rectangular agricultural field. The pilot had also successfully completed 11 or 12 similar application flights over the same field during previous years, including 1 earlier that month. As the pilot turned the airplane toward its seventh pass, sun position and spray residue on the windshield resulted in his briefly losing sight of the transmission lines. The pilot regained sight of the transmission lines and continued the pass; however, the airplane struck the lines, damaging the wing spar. The pilot did not report any preexisting mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA12CA050 for the full record.
Event
- Date
- Oct 24, 2011
- Type
- Accident
- Place
- Mcalpin, Florida
- Nearest airport
- None
- Highest injury
- None
- Weather
- Visual (VMC)
- Light
- Day
Air Tractor Inc AT-301
- N-number
- N3169C
- 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.