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Atlas / NTSB / CEN23LA357

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event CEN23LA357

2023-08-08 Hartington, Nebraska, United States Airport · N/A None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s misperception of the surrounding elevation resulting in a collision with crops and terrain.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that while he maneuvered to apply agricultural product to a field, he did not perceive a higher slope of crops before making an application pass. The airplane’s landing gear became entangled in the crops and the pilot could not power the airplane free. The airplane impacted terrain and came to rest upright. Substantial damage was sustained to the airplane’s left wing and empennage. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions contributed to the accident. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

  • Personnel issues-Psychological-Perception/orientation/illusion-Perception-Pilot
  • Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-(general)-Awareness of condition

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2023_CEN23LA357.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.