Primary finding
Probable cause
The inadvertent stall by the pilot during practice agricultural spraying runs.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The pilot departed the local airport on a solo training flight to practice aerial agricultural spraying techniques. There were no witnesses to the accident. The aircraft impacted the terrain at the end of the practice field. The aircraft propeller showed signs of chordwise scratching and twisting toward low pitch, and there was continuity of the aircraft flight controls. The aircraft left and right wings had extensive leading edge chordwise crushing, from the wing roots to the wing tips.
Source record
Factual narrative
On June 11, 1994, about 1030 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-25-235C, N4643Y, was substantially damaged following a collision with terrain during agricultural flight training near Bainbridge, Georgia. The commercial pilot was fatally injured in the accident. The aircraft was being operated under 14 CFR Part 91 by Harrell's Aviation Service of Bainbridge, Georgia. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the time, and no flight plan had been filed for the local training flight. The flight departed Bainbridge, Georgia about 0915. The pilot departed the local airport on a solo training flight to practice aerial application techniques. There were no witnesses to the accident. However, the operator of the flight training center stated that observers to the crash site believed that it was a stall/spin accident, and that the airplane "landed inverted very hard." The aircraft was located at the end of the practice spraying field. There was continuity of the aircraft flight controls into the cockpit area. The leading edge of both wings exhibited chordwise crushing damage. The propeller blades had chordwise scratching, and they were twisted toward low pitch. A post mortem examination of the pilot was conducted by Dr. Hanzlick of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory. Dr. Hanzlick stated that the cause of death was blunt force trauma received in the accident. A toxicological examination of the pilot was conducted by the FAA Toxicology and Accident Research Laboratory. The report of that examination stated that no carboxyhemoglobin, cyanide, nor any drugs were detected. A petroleum mixture was detected in gastric contents. -