Agricultural Airplane Strikes Ground During Takeoff Due to Wake Turbulence (N6082B)

Incident Description

An agricultural airplane was taking off from a grass airstrip. It was following another agricultural airplane of the same type that had departed shortly before. During the initial climb, the airplane encountered wake turbulence from the preceding aircraft. The pilot attempted to exit the turbulence by turning the airplane to the left, later stating he was "trying to get out of it." While executing this turn, the airplane's left wing and left main landing gear struck the ground. The impact caused the airplane to bounce on its right wing, after which it landed on its empennage (tail section). The airplane then came to rest upright in an open field. The pilot indicated that the accident could have been avoided if he had waited "about one more minute" before beginning his takeoff.