This is an excerpt from a report made to the Aviation Safety Reporting System. The narrative is written by the pilot, rather than FAA or NTSB officials. To maintain anonymity, many details, such as aircraft model or airport, are often scrubbed from the reports.
Conducting aerial application operations in a single-engine turboprop. I circled the field numerous times to inspect it for obstructions and other conflicts.
I started the job and made multiple passes until I was about to pass under the power line wire in which I observed a drone flying left to right in a conflicting flight path. I took evasive action to miss colliding with the drone and still try to fit under the power line and power pole. This caused the wing to collide with the ground.
I managed to regain flight with a large amount of corn on the leading edge of the wing and booms.
I circled the field and tried to observe any van or truck that may have the capability of carrying such a drone within an approximate two-mile radius of the incident location. I observed no personnel or vehicle that would be of operational significance to the drone’s operation.
Callback From ASRS Officials
Pilot stated the drone was about 4 to 6 feet square and that this is the first time this has happened to him, but many other pilots at his company have had similar incidents this year.
The pilot also stated that this is a worrying trend for his line of work since, in this case, he missed the pole by about 2 feet and clipped his wing trying to avoid the drone.
Primary Problem: Human Factors
ACN: 2149772
