King air pilot reports propeller contact with a vehicle during a low pass while conducting spray dro...

Attributes
ACN	885922
Time
Date	201004
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	King Air C90 E90
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Descent
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 140 Flight Crew Total 6300 Flight Crew Type 4000
Events
Anomaly	Ground Event / Encounter Vehicle Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT
Miss Distance	Horizontal 0 Vertical 0

Narrative:

Aircraft operation involved low passes over slide spinner to collect spray droplets of pesticides for measurements. Passes were at 15-25 ft AGL at 150 KTS. On one pass; the aircraft encountered a down draft that resulted in lower than normal altitude. The left propeller tip struck the cab roof of vehicle that was marking the placement of the spinners for the flight pass. No abnormal propeller or engine indications were noted and aircraft landed safely without further incident. Corrective action involves maintaining a higher altitude (now 25 ft minimum) and using flat ground markers instead of vehicles. Human factors involved reduced reaction abilities due to pilot fatigue. This will be corrected by shortening daily work hours.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: King Air pilot reports propeller contact with a vehicle during a low pass while conducting spray droplet research. A down draft caused the aircraft to sink slightly from the planned altitude of 15 to 25 FT striking the vehicle which was marking the pass.

Narrative: Aircraft operation involved low passes over slide spinner to collect spray droplets of pesticides for measurements. Passes were at 15-25 FT AGL at 150 KTS. On one pass; the aircraft encountered a down draft that resulted in lower than normal altitude. The left propeller tip struck the cab roof of vehicle that was marking the placement of the spinners for the flight pass. No abnormal propeller or engine indications were noted and aircraft landed safely without further incident. Corrective action involves maintaining a higher altitude (now 25 FT minimum) and using flat ground markers instead of vehicles. Human factors involved reduced reaction abilities due to pilot fatigue. This will be corrected by shortening daily work hours.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

King air pilot reports propeller contact with a vehicle during a low pass while conducting spray droplet research. A down draft caused the aircraft to sink slightly from the planned altitude of 15 to 25 ft striking the vehicle which was marking the pass.