Accident Air Tractor AT-802A N9190G, Thursday 19 August 1999

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Date:	Thursday 19 August 1999
Time:	15:00 LT
Type:	Air Tractor AT-802A
Owner/operator:	U.S. Bureau of Land Management
Registration:	N9190G
MSN:	802A-0006
Total airframe hrs:	1449 hours
Engine model:	P&W PT6A-65
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Category:	Accident
Location:	Elko, NV - United States of America
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Unknown
Departure airport:	(KEKO)
Destination airport:
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
The pilot was on a fire retardant application run. He successfully dropped half his load on the fire and went around for another run. On the second pass, the aircraft encountered a strong downdraft as it neared the release point and the pilot recovered at a low altitude. During this process, the left outer wing collided with the top of a juniper tree. The pilot returned to Elko and landed. The most outboard 4 feet of the wing leading edge was crushed aft with rib damage.

Probable Cause: The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate terrain/obstacle clearance altitude margin while engaged in fire fighting operations.

Accident investigation: