What happened
During an aerial application flight, a single-engine agricultural airplane was maneuvering to fly under power transmission lines. During this maneuver, the aircraft collided with a parked cotton trailer. Following the collision, the pilot lost directional control of the aircraft, which subsequently impacted the ground.
An eyewitness observed the aircraft performing a turn to reverse direction and noted that the engine sounded normal. No aircraft anomalies were reported prior to the accident. The operator reported that the pilot was unable to recall the specific details of the flight due to a concussion sustained during the impact.
Findings
Investigation into the contributing factors revealed that the pilot, who had 1,296 hours of commercial flight experience, had recently been assigned to this 300-horsepower airplane. The operator stated that the pilot was accustomed to operating a different aircraft with 680 horsepower.