Low altitude operation/event: Air Tractor AT-602, N602BA, fatal accident occurred on September 5, 2024, near Camden, Colorado

• Location: Camden, Colorado 
• Accident Number: CEN24FA338 
• Date & Time: September 5, 2024, 10:14 Local 
• Registration: N602BA 
• Aircraft: AIR TRACTOR INC AT-602 
• Aircraft Damage: Substantial 
• Defining Event: Low altitude operation/event 
• Injuries: 1 Fatal 
• Flight Conducted Under: Part 137: Agricultural

https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/195063/pdf

https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=195063

On September 5, 2024, about 1014 mountain daylight time, an Air Tractor AT-602 airplane, N602BA, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Camden, Colorado. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 137 agricultural flight.

The agricultural pilot was conducting an aerial application flight when the airplane’s right wing struck a power transformer that was mounted to a power pole. The impact with the power transformer occurred while the airplane was flying west along the north edge of the field being sprayed. A witness saw the airplane pitch up over a grouping of large trees when it rolled to the right and then descended into an adjacent cornfield.

A wreckage examination revealed no evidence of a preimpact mechanical malfunction or failure that would have prevented normal airplane operation. The right wingtip, right aileron counterbalance weight with mounting bracket, outboard half of the right aileron, and right-wing aileron cove skin separated from the airplane when the right wing struck the power transformer. As such, the pilot was unlikely able to maintain roll control of the airplane after the right wing struck the power transformer.

Day visual meteorological conditions existed, and the position of the sun at the time would not have negatively affected the pilot’s view ahead of the airplane. The pilot’s autopsy and postmortem toxicology tests did not reveal any evidence of medical incapacitation or impairment.

- Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate clearance from a power transformer that was mounted to a power pole during an aerial application flight.