LAFAYETTE, Ind. ― Robert Ray Cottingham took off in his crop duster from an Attica airport about 5:40 p.m. July 22. He had about 50 minutes left to live, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation and Safety Board.
The 35-year-old pilot from rural Otterbein lifted off with full fuel tanks, and the plane’s hopper was full of application product for the crops, according to the preliminary report, which does not state any conclusive reason for the crash that killed Cottingham.
Eleven minutes after takeoff, Cottingham began spraying two Benton County fields. It was an ideal summer evening: 80 degrees, clear conditions with 10-mile visibility, and a 4-mph breeze, according to the report.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report included a satellite map with an overlay of GPS data from Cottingham’s plane, which was a single-engine AT-602 owned by Bi-State Air out of Veedersburg.
The image shows the fields Cottingham sprayed in green and his plane’s flight pattern in red. The yellow arrows show his final pass, and the yellow circle indicates where the GPS data stopped, according to the report.
“Immediately before that accident, the pilot was completing a west-to-east trim pass on the south side of the northernfield,” the report states. “The recorded GPS data ended during the trim pass. The accident site was located in a soybean field about .45 (nautical miles) east of the field being sprayed.”
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The crash site was just north of Benton County Road 800 South and west of Benton County Road 200 East, according to the aerial photo.
The plane flipped upside down and caught fire, which was quickly extinguished by first responders, according to the report. Its nose was pointed southeast.
“Maintenance records showed that a 100-hour inspection was completed on July 18, 2024,” the report states. “There were no outstanding maintenance discrepancies. The airplane had accumulated about 41.9 hours since the last inspection.”
The plane had five propellers, three of which were buried in the ground, according to the report.
“The propeller remained attached to the propeller flange and reduction gearbox, and the blades remained attached to the hub,” according to the report. “The blades exhibited compound bend and twist progression from forward to aft in the sequence of rotation, consistent with producing thrust during impact.”
Reach Ron Wilkins at [email protected]. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Report details crop duster’s flight data but no cause for fatal crash
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