25 Jul 2015: CESSNA A188B — AERIAL SPRAYING SERVICE INC

25 Jul 2015: CESSNA A188B (N731MB) — AERIAL SPRAYING SERVICE INC

No fatalities • Albertson, NC, United States

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from wires during takeoff due to his impairment from alcohol use.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On July 25, 2015, about 0815 eastern daylight time, a Cessna A188B, N731MB, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Albertson, North Carolina. The commercial pilot sustained minor injuries. The flight was conducted as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 agricultural application flight. The pilot stated that he was departing with full fuel tanks and 105 gallons of spray mixture, which was a lighter load than the previous day. A preflight inspection and engine run-up revealed no anomalies, and the pilot initiated the takeoff from the turf runway with the wing flaps extended 10°. The airplane lifted off the runway about 70 mph, and at 85 mph, the pilot established a "shallow" climb. He stated that as the airplane neared the end of the runway, it began to lose altitude. The left main landing gear impacted a power line and the airplane subsequently descended into terrain, resulting in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. A law enforcement officer who responded to the accident noticed the smell of alcohol around the pilot and performed a breathalyzer test about 45 minutes after the accident. The result was a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.07 gm/dL. The pilot was subsequently taken to the police station, where breathalyzer tests revealed 0.05 and 0.04 gm/dL about 1 hour, 45 minutes after the accident. Postaccident examination of the engine by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the intake manifold was damaged during the accident sequence. Spark was produced by each magneto, and piston movement was observed on all cylinders when the propeller was rotated by hand.

Contributing factors

  • cause Pilot
  • factor Contributed to outcome
  • Climb rate — Not attained/maintained
  • Pilot

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 010/04kt, vis 7sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 40,000+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.