The pilot reported that after conducting a pass over a field near Fort Pierre, S.D., during an aerial application flight, he passed clear of a tower but did not see the tower support guy-wires and hit them.
“After the guy-wire impact there was an immediate sound of the engine starting to lose power and/or shut down,” he told investigators.
He then performed an emergency landing on a gravel road without further incident.
A post-flight inspection revealed substantial damage to the fuselage and left wing of the Air Tractor.
Probable cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain obstacle clearance, which resulted in the airplane striking guy-wires during aerial application operations.
NTSB Identification: GAA15CA251
This September 2015 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Lucky pilot. Likely a MET tower. The things pop up in just a few hours and in a lot of states don’t seem tomrequire much in the wat of permits because they’re below the FAA’s 200’ magic elevation, and they’re just “temporary”.