Flying aerial applicators, most commonly known as crop-dusters , is work of an inherently risky nature given that they must be flown low and must avoid power lines and other obstacles, all the while accurately delivering a load of chemicals over a crop field.
That unique risk is reflected in their crash rate, which is higher than the total general aviation community of small aircraft, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Crashes involving agriculture aviation totaled 78 in 2013 and claimed the lives of 10 people, the agency said. Arkansas was home to eight of those crashes, a state total matched only by California, and a reflection that the state represents the "heart" of the industry, according to Kenneth Degg, education and safety director for the National Agricultural Aviation Association.
In the crashes the agency studied as part of a special investigation into agricultural-aviation operations, none of the Arkansas crashes resulted in deaths.
The investigation, released last week, recommended that the National Agriculture Aviation Association and the Federal Aviation Administration work together to develop better pilot training, fatigue management, risk assessment and aircraft maintenance practices to improve industry safety.
The investigation included collecting information in the areas of pilot work and sleep schedules, pilot training and experience and aircraft maintenance.
"Ag operations are inherently flown at low altitudes, often close to obstacles and hazards," National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener said in a statement last week. "That kind of flying requires rigorous risk assessment and risk management to operate safely."
It is a demanding job, particularly during the months of May, June and July, the peak of the planting and growing seasons for Arkansas farmers, said Joe Tidwell, owner of Tidwell Flying Service in Carlisle.
The service, founded by Tidwell's father in 1963, operates three aircraft to spread herbicides, fertilizer and other products on Lonoke County farms. But rain and wind has kept his aircraft grounded too often at the beginning of the season.
"We're about four weeks behind," said Tidwell, who has amassed more than 25,000 hours in the air. "Agriculture success is all about timing."
If weeds grow too long, the weedkiller will become ineffective, he said, to cite one example. That puts additional pressure on pilots that may spur some to take unnecessary risks or to overlook planning, he said.
"You have to be responsible and professional," said Tidwell, president of the Arkansas Agricultural Aviation Association, which represents 403 licensed commercial-agricultural pilots, 170 commercial firms and 348 aircraft used in crop production. "If we can't do a safe job, if we can't do a professional job, we stop."
Those aircraft sprayed products on some of the more than 6 million acres farmers used to raise soybeans, rice, corn, wheat and cotton in 2012, the latest figures available.
Nearly half the nation's rice crop is raised in Arkansas, Tidwell said. During rice season, a rice field will be flown over five or six times, he said.
"It takes an airplane to grow that crop," Tidwell said.
The association tries to instill responsibility and professionalism through education, which includes the Professional Aerial Applicators' Support System, a program designed to educate pilots on key safety and drift minimization issues.
It was instituted in 1996 nationwide in response to far higher accident and fatality rates than the industry has now, said Tidwell, who served as a PAASS instructor for six years and traveled around the nation giving training.
But not all aerial applicators belong to the association, he said.
"They do what they want and when they want," Tidwell said. "But they don't last."
He and Degg welcomed the National Transportation Safety Board recommendations.
"We at the NAAA are very much in agreement with the report," said Degg, who called the report a collaborative effort between the board and the industry. "It's a great thing they did for us.
"We needed the root causes. We know it hit the ground. We want to know why it hit the ground."
The Arkansas crashes primarily were the result of mechanical failures.
Typical was a July 3, 2013, crash near Tillar when an Air Tractor AT-502B sustained a partial loss of engine power during takeoff and overran the runway after the pilot lost cockpit throttle control, according to a National Transportation Safety Board account of the incident. The pilot was unhurt.
A post-accident examination found a throttle control pin lying on the cockpit floor. A cotter pin for the throttle control pin was missing. As a result, the board determined the probable cause of the crash was an unsecured cockpit throttle control pin.
Still, the most dangerous aspect of the industry remains ground obstacles such as power lines and small towers.
In addition to the recommendations, the board issued an alert encouraging pilots "to conduct thorough preflight and aerial surveys, use technology to identify and maintain awareness of obstacles, and have a better understanding of the performance limitations and requirements of their aircraft."
"People don't put enough forethought and planning in before they fly," Tidwell said. "They try to do it on the fly. You can't do it that way."
Metro on 05/19/2014