Sunday, July 05, 2015

Cessna 188B, N625EH, SWI Aviation: Accident occurred July 05, 2015 near Crawfordsville Municipal Airport (KCFJ), Indiana

SWING WING INC: http://registry.faa.gov/N625EH

FAA  Flight Standards District Office: FAA Indianapolis FSDO-11

NTSB Identification: CEN15CA293
14 CFR Part 137: Agricultural
Accident occurred Sunday, July 05, 2015 in Crawfordsville, IN
Probable Cause Approval Date: 08/12/2015
Aircraft: CESSNA A188B, registration: N625EH
Injuries: 1 Serious.

NTSB investigators used data provided by various entities, including, but not limited to, the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the operator and did not travel in support of this investigation to prepare this aircraft accident report.

The airplane impacted a powerline during an aerial application maneuver. The airplane sustained substantial wing and fuselage damage on impact with the powerline and terrain. The pilot reported that there were no airplane mechanical malfunctions.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the powerline during an aerial application operations.





INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – We are just entering the period in the growing season when crop dusters do their work in Indiana.

July and August are the months when you are most likely to see the people who engage in aerial agriculture and their mission is oftern misunderstood.

They are not acrobatic pilots and they aren’t daredevils. What they do is big business and it can be risky.

It’s harder to find a crop duster in Indiana than in other midwestern states. That makes it more likely that the people who see them flying low over farm fields have questions.

Jeff Elsner has been flying a crop duster out of Freeman Field in Seymour for 10 years. He’s become used to unusual encounters.

“We get complaints all the time thinking we’re dive bombing them or chasing them,” he said, “and what we’re doing is putting on a product for the farmer. Most often that product is fungicide that goes on corn. With the wet weather we’ve had this summer there should be a big call for crop spraying.”

And so the news that a pilot was injured in Montgomery County after hitting power lines will lead other pilots to focus on safety.

There is a You Tube video that shows how a pilot navigates power lines, going under them at one end of the field and over them at the other.

When asked if he has a dangerous job Elsner said, “It can be. It’s a calibrated risk.”

He has logged 7,000 hours in a crop duster with just one close call.

“The airplane just quit flying. Couldn’t figure out what it was,” he said. “We saved it before it hit the ground. Come to find out it was a natural gas leak on a big underground line and I went through the plume.”

He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It did nothing to curb his enthusiasm.

“I’m not gonna lie to you, it’s fun. It’s fun,” he said. “But after a 16 hour day doing it, it’s not so much fun.”

There is a state Agricultural Aviation Association and a national association.

They both hold safety meetings on a regular basis and Elsner said he spends much of the off season making sure that his crop duster is fully maintained.




A pilot of a crop duster was injured when his plane clipped some power lines near County Road 600 South and U.S. 231.

The Cessna plane crashed into a field closer to County Road 500 South.


The unidentified pilot was airlifted to an undisclosed Indianapolis hospital.


The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched at 6:27 p.m. Sunday for the crash. 


The downed plane closed U.S. 231 because of power lines that were down.


 “Deputies assisted medical personnel with getting the pilot to the roadway, where he was transported by Crawfordsville Medics to Southmont High School,” Major Ryan Needham with the Sheriff’ Office said. “From there, he was flown to an Indianapolis hospital by LifeLine Helicopter.


“The plane was a 1974 Cessna 188B owned by SWI Aviation in Veedersburg. The pilot was spraying a corn field and as he travelled north to continue his spraying, he clipped two power lines,” Needham explained.


Crawfordsville Fire Chief Larry Patton said his department sent ambulance support and helped secure a landing spot for the helicopter at Southmont High School.


At the time of publication, Duke Energy was at the scene waiting for additional equipment and manpower to repair the lines. U.S. 231 South was expected to be closed into the late evening.


Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, the Indiana State Police, Crawfordsville Fire Department and the New Market Fire Department all worked the scene.


The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been contacted. 

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