Piper PA-36-285 accident near Brownfield, TX
On October 5, 1999, a Piper PA-36-285 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Brownfield, TX. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- October 5, 1999
- Place
- Brownfield, TX
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-36-285 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 33.169°N, 102.270°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001212X19950
NTSB summary
On October 5, 1999, at 1700 central daylight time, a Piper PA-36-285 agricultural airplane, N4241U, was destroyed when it impacted terrain following an in-flight collision with an electrical wire while maneuvering near Brownfield, Texas. The commercial pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was registered to a private individual and operated by Foshee Spraying Service, Inc., of Brownfield. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 aerial application flight, for which no flight plan was filed. The local flight originated from the operator's private grass airstrip, near Brownfield at 1600. According to local authorities and an eye witness, the 1,336-hour pilot was applying malathion to a field as part of the federally sponsored "boll weevil eradication program." The pilot was spraying the field using east-west headings. He completed a spray run to the east and was turning the airplane to a westerly heading, re-entering the field, when it collided with and severed a 115,000 volt power wire and a static wire. The power wires ran north-south along the eastern edge of the field. The airplane entered a nose high attitude, "looped," and descended to the ground. A fire erupted and consumed the airplane. The wreckage came to rest 499 feet west of the powerline on a measured magnetic heading of 200 degrees. The propeller separated from the engine and came to rest 50 feet southeast of the main wreckage. A review of the maintenance logbooks by an NTSB investigator revealed no evidence of any uncorrect
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance with power wires while maneuvering during an aerial application flight. A factor was the sunglare.
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Browse: Texas · Piper aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
