N2005C

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn August 26, 2015, about 1130 central daylight time, a Weatherly Aircraft Company 620B, N2005C, impacted terrain after the left wing partially separated during an aerial application flight near Hancock, Wisconsin. The pilot was fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed. The airplane was registered to Agricair Leasing, LLC and operated by Agricair Flying Service, Inc., under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed in the area, and no flight plan was filed for the flight, which originated from the operator's private airstrip near Bancroft, Wisconsin, about 1115.

The only witness to the accident stated that he was working in a field about 1/2 mile from the accident site about 1125 when he heard an aircraft engine that had an unusual sound. The sound stopped and was followed by the sound of breaking trees.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who responded to the accident site, the airplane was performing spray operations from north to south on a potato field about 4.2 miles southeast of Hancock at the time of the accident. The field was surrounded by trees that were about 50-60 ft tall. Three birch trees, about 25-30 ft tall, were located near the edge of the potato field and about 30 yards closer to the planted area of the field than the treed area. The birch trees were in line with a wreckage path that contained the airplane left wing leading edge pieces, trailing edge, and wingtip. There was no evidence that the airplane impacted the birch trees. Postaccident examination revealed damage to the left wing, spray boom, empennage, and fuselage structure consistent with upward and rearward separation of portions of the left wing.

The owner of Agricair Flying Service, Inc. examined the potato field after the accident and believed that the pilot was just starting spray operations at the time of the accident. Another agricultural operator examined the field and believed that the pilot was almost finished with the spray operations. PERSONNEL INFORMATIONThe accident pilot's logbook was examined and, as of January 2, 2015, the logbook indicated 584.1 hours of total flight time in single-engine airplanes. Most of the flights annotated in the logbook were conducted in light general aviation airplanes. In 2011, the pilot only recorded 2 flights for a total of 4.9 hours, in 2013 the pilot only recorded 3 flights for a total of 2.9 hours, and in 2014 the pilot only recorded 6 flights for a total of 6.1 hours.

The pilot began agricultural flight training in April 2015 at Battlefords Airspray, North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada. Much of the training was performed in a Gippsland GA200 two-seat agricultural training airplane. The pilot's logbook entries for the GA200 airplane did not indicate dual received flight time for these flights. Seven of the training flights were solo flights in a Piper PA-25-180 or -235 airplanes. On April 28, 2015, an entry in the logbook indicated the pilot had completed agricultural pilot training after completing 26 flights for 41.2 hours. No other flight times were contained in the pilot's logbook.

The pilot began working for Agricair Flying Service in May 2015. The operator provided a desk calendar for May-August 2015 where the pilot annotated his flight time, the number of loads, and the number of acres. A Letter of Competency from the company was contained in the pilot records indicating the accident pilot had satisfactorily completed the knowledge and skills tests for an agricultural pilot under 14 CFR Part 137.19 on May 24, 2015 and was qualified to serve as pilot-in-command under the operator's certificate. The last entry on the calendar was on August 23, 2015. As of that date, the pilot had accrued 461.1 hours of agricultural operations, including his agricultural flight training. A majority of this time, 419.9 hours, was accrued in the accident airplane while working for the operator. His minimum recorded flight time on a single day was 0.4 hours and his maximum flight time was 13.6 hours with an average flight time of 5.9 hours. Fourteen days had recorded flight times that exceeded 10 hours. No information was available on the pilot's flight time on the day of the accident or the two preceding days.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Special Investigation Report on the Safety of Agricultural Aircraft Operations (NTSB/SIR-14/01 PB2014-105983) stated in part, "Compared to the pilots in other [general aviation] sectors, ag operations pilots who were involved in accidents tended to be highly experienced. For 2010, the average total flight time for an ag pilot involved in an accident was about 10,400 hours with about 2,900 hours in aircraft type (NTSB 2012, 54)." AIRCRAFT INFORMATIONThe accident airplane, serial number (S/N) 1557, was manufactured in 1993 and registered to the operator in June 2014. It was a single-seat, single-engine, low-wing, all-metal airplane with conventional landing gear and was designed for agricultural spraying operations. The airplane was powered by a Pratt & Whitney R985 radial engine which drove a 3-blade tractor propeller.

The Weatherly 620B was certified under FAR 21.25(a) effective February 1, 1965, with policies contained in Civil Aeronautics Manual 8 (CAM 8) Appendix B. The airplane type certificate (TC) ownership was transferred to Weatherly Aircraft Company, Chicago, Illinois, on November 6, 2000. The FAA responsible office for the TC was the Los Angeles Aircraft Certification Office, ANM-100L.

Aircraft Maintenance Information

Maintenance records indicated that the accident airplane was not flown between May 1, 2000, and March 21, 2003. Annual inspections were performed on the airplane each year since manufacture except in 2000, 2001, and 2002. The entries for the annual inspections performed in 2004-2008 and 2010-2012 specifically noted that the wing attach bolts were torqued.

The wing hinge pins were inspected in accordance with Weatherly Service Note No. 15 on July 23, 1996, at a total time of 1,179 hours. A logbook entry on June 19, 2001 indicated that the wing leading edges were removed, stripped, primed, painted, and reinstalled. Two wingtip skins and two wingtip ribs were also replaced at this time. All applicable airworthiness directives were tracked in the maintenance records and had been complied with. The manufacturer's maintenance manual contained limited inspection information in Section XV, Periodic Aircraft Inspections. Step (n) in this section stated, "Remove wing bands and inspect wing hinge fittings." No other information in the manual addressed inspection of the wing hinge brackets.

The most recent inspection was an annual inspection completed on April 15, 2015, at a total airplane and tachometer time of 4,468.9 hours. The logbook entry indicated that the inspection was completed in accordance with 14 CFR Part 43, Appendix D, and stated, "Removed all inspection plates & checked structure." The tachometer time at the time of the accident was unknown due to impact damage. The last recorded maintenance logbook entry before the accident was for an oil change on August 22, 2015, at a tachometer time of 4,811.83 hours. AIRPORT INFORMATIONThe accident airplane, serial number (S/N) 1557, was manufactured in 1993 and registered to the operator in June 2014. It was a single-seat, single-engine, low-wing, all-metal airplane with conventional landing gear and was designed for agricultural spraying operations. The airplane was powered by a Pratt & Whitney R985 radial engine which drove a 3-blade tractor propeller.

The Weatherly 620B was certified under FAR 21.25(a) effective February 1, 1965, with policies contained in Civil Aeronautics Manual 8 (CAM 8) Appendix B. The airplane type certificate (TC) ownership was transferred to Weatherly Aircraft Company, Chicago, Illinois, on November 6, 2000. The FAA responsible office for the TC was the Los Angeles Aircraft Certification Office, ANM-100L.

Aircraft Maintenance Information

Maintenance records indicated that the accident airplane was not flown between May 1, 2000, and March 21, 2003. Annual inspections were performed on the airplane each year since manufacture except in 2000, 2001, and 2002. The entries for the annual inspections performed in 2004-2008 and 2010-2012 specifically noted that the wing attach bolts were torqued.

The wing hinge pins were inspected in accordance with Weatherly Service Note No. 15 on July 23, 1996, at a total time of 1,179 hours. A logbook entry on June 19, 2001 indicated that the wing leading edges were removed, stripped, primed, painted, and reinstalled. Two wingtip skins and two wingtip ribs were also replaced at this time. All applicable airworthiness directives were tracked in the maintenance records and had been complied with. The manufacturer's maintenance manual contained limited inspection information in Section XV, Periodic Aircraft Inspections. Step (n) in this section stated, "Remove wing bands and inspect wing hinge fittings." No other information in the manual addressed inspection of the wing hinge brackets.

The most recent inspection was an annual inspection completed on April 15, 2015, at a total airplane and tachometer time of 4,468.9 hours. The logbook entry indicated that the inspection was completed in accordance with 14 CFR Part 43, Appendix D, and stated, "Removed all inspection plates & checked structure." The tachometer time at the time of the accident was unknown due to impact damage. The last recorded maintenance logbook entry before the accident was for an oil change on August 22, 2015, at a tachometer time of 4,811.83 hours. WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATIONThe main wreckage was located in a treed area beyond the southern edge of a potato field; portions of the wreckage were found in the southwest corner of the field. The airplane impacted the tops of several large trees before impacting the ground. All t...