Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from a power line during a low-level aerial application
flight. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s fatigue.
NTSB analysis
The pilot reported this was the eighth aerial application flight of the day spraying rice fields. He had made all takeoff’s flying low under a power line about 3/4 mile from the departure end of the runway. He stated that due to the monotony of the flights combined with fatigue and a bi-plane wing configuration, he lost sight of the power line and struck it. The airplane impacted the ground and cartwheeled sustaining substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, vertical and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operations.
Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR23LA212 for the full record.
Event
- Date
- Jun 4, 2023
- Type
- Accident
- Place
- Colusa, California
- Highest injury
- Serious
- Serious injuries
- 1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC)
- Light
- Day
Grumman Acft Eng Cor-Schweizer G-164B
- N-number
- N6750K
- Category
- Airplane
- Year built
- 1978
- 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.