AUGUSTA, MT, USA
N9952J
CESSNA T-188C
THE PILOT MADE AN AERIAL APPLICATION SWATH RUN TOWARD RISING TERRAIN, INITIATED A TURN AROUND MANEUVER, DIVERTED HIS ATTENTION TO KEEPING THE SPRAYING AREA IN SIGHT AND THE ACFT LOST AIRSPEED. HE APPLIED FULL POWER AND ATTEMPTED TO DUMP THE CHEMICALS BUT WAS UNABLE TO DUMP THE LOAD BEFORE THE ACFT IMPACTED A HILL.
On Thursday morning, June 17, 1993, at 0940 mountain daylight time, a Cessna T-188C, N9952J, operated by Lohse flying Service, impacted the ground 14 miles southeast of Augusta, Montana, while maneuvering. There was no flight plan filed for the local aerial application flight, conducted under 14 CFR 137 in visual meteorological conditions, that departed Augusta, Montana on June 17, 1993, at 0925. The commercial certificated pilot suffered minor injuries in the accident and the aircraft was substantially damaged. A post impact fire was extinguished by the pilot. The pilot reported he was making a swath run toward rising terrain, lost sight of the marking flag, and got off course from the last spray pass, causing a skip in the spray coverage. He said he pulled up, started a left turn, trying to keep sight of the field where he left off and noticed he was losing airspeed. He indicated he immediately applied full power, lowered the nose to gain airspeed and continued turning away from the rising terrain. He said he attempted to dump the chemicals to lighten the load but was not able to dump the load before the aircraft impacted a small hill.
THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN AIRSPEED AND TERRAIN CLEARANCE WHILE MANEUVERING ON AN AERIAL APPLICATION FLIGHT. A FACTOR RELATING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE PILOT'S DIVERTED ATTENTION.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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