NTSB CAROL · Event
Event WPR11CA339
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from a pole while maneuvering during an aerial application flight.
Factual narrative
The pilot was spraying water on a field to wash the hopper tank for the next load of chemicals. On the second pass the pilot attempted to clear a wire that ran perpendicular to his flight path by descending beneath it at an altitude of approximately 5 feet. The pilot reported that the outer end of one main rotor blade struck the pole and the helicopter hit the ground and rolled over. During an aerial application flight, the pilot was spraying water on a field to wash the hopper tank for the next load of chemicals. During the second pass, the pilot attempted to clear a wire that ran perpendicular to his flight path by descending beneath it at an altitude of approximately 5 feet. The pilot reported that the outer end of one main rotor blade struck the pole and the helicopter impacted the ground and rolled over. 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 Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring environment-Pilot - C
- C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Pole-Response/compensation - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2011_WPR11CA339.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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