N9143FAir Tractor AT-502 · 1992

On October 22, 2019, about 1200 central daylight time, an Air Tractor AT-502B airplane, N9143F, collided with a tagline rope while maneuvering near a wind turbine located near Lamesa, Texas. The commercial pilot was not injured, but a worker on the ground was seriously injured. The airplane sustained minor damage. The airplane was operated by Plains Aerial Applicators Inc, Olton, Texas, as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 137 aerial application flight. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight that departed Lamesa Municipal Airport (LUV), Lamesa, Texas, at 1108.

According to the pilot, the takeoff and aerial application portion of the flight was uneventful. The pilot reported that as he flew back toward LUV he sent a text message to a friend who was working on a wind turbine located along US Route 180 and about 10 miles east of LUV. The pilot stated that he intentionally flew at a low altitude past the wind turbine that he believed his friend was working on. The airplane's right wing collided with a tagline rope that was attached to one of the wind turbine blades and being held by a worker on the ground. Following the collision, the pilot was able to make a normal landing at LUV. The airplane sustained minor damage to the right wing leading and trailing edges. The pilot reported that he later found out that his friend had been working on a different wind turbine in the same area.

According to the wind turbine company, the technician on the ground was holding onto a 500 ft long tagline rope that was attached to a wind turbine blade about 403 ft above the ground. The technician was standing about 294 ft from the base of the wind turbine when the airplane collided with the tagline rope. The technician was thrown about 20 ft and sustained several fractured vertebrae and a broken leg.