Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
The pilot's inadequate visual lookout and not maintaining clearance from the watering pivot during the aerial application maneuver and the unsuitable terrain he encountered during the emergency landing. A factor was the sunglare encountered.
Aircraft Information
Registered Owner (Historical)
Analysis
On July 31, 2005, about 0800 eastern daylight time, an Allied Ag Cat Productions, Inc. G-164A airplane, piloted by a commercial pilot, sustained substantial damage on impact with an object and a field near Trufant, Michigan, during an aerial application maneuver. The flight was operating under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. No flight plan was on file. The pilot reported no injuries. The local flight departed from the Lakeview Airport-Griffith Field, near Lakeview, Michigan, about 0730.
The pilot's accident report stated:
Ag-aircraft was spraying potato field, making end of the field pass, 2
pivots (watering system) were setting perpendicular with the line of
flight, the contributing factor or cause of the accident was the aircraft
was flying into the sun at 8:00 AM in the morning making visibility
bad. The reason for flying into the east sun was to avoid flying
directly at a house. And the second pivot was the object struck
causing damage enough to constitute landing in the potato field
adjoining the field being sprayed.
The United States Naval Observatory showed the altitude and azimuth of the sun as:
[hour:minute] Altitude Azimuth(E of N)
[degrees] [degrees]
...
07:15 17.2 80.8
07:30 19.9 83.2
07:45 22.7 85.6
08:00 25.5 88.0
08:15 28.2 90.6
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# CHI05CA207