The pilot reported this was his eighth aerial application flight of the day spraying rice fields near Colusa, California, in the Grumman AgCat.
He had made all takeoffs flying low under a power line about 3/4 mile from the departure end of the runway.
He told investigators that due to the monotony of the flights, combined with fatigue and a biplane wing configuration, he lost sight of the power line and hit it.
The airplane hit the ground and cartwheeled, sustaining substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, vertical and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot was seriously injured in the crash.
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.
To download the final report. Click here. This will trigger a PDF download to your device.
This June 2023 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.
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