NTSB CAROL · Event
Event GAA19CA453
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from wires during an agricultural application flight.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that during an aerial application flight, he had reconnoitered the area of operation, but on the last pass, the airplane struck an unseen wire. He recalled that, "the airplane's right wing was trying to drop," and he tried to keep the airplane level, but the right wing collided with the ground and the airplane cartwheeled before it came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, and both wings. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that, during an agricultural application flight, he had reconnoitered the area of operation, but on the last pass, the airplane struck an unseen wire. He recalled that "the airplane's right wing was trying to drop," and he tried to keep the airplane level, but the right wing collided with the ground, and the airplane cartwheeled and then came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. 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).
- C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Wire-Effect on operation - C
- C Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring environment-Pilot - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2019_GAA19CA453.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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