Biplane strikes truck during takeoff in Northern California as fuel spills, authorities say
A crop duster crashed into a truck Tuesday in Northern California after a pilot didn’t generate enough “lift” during takeoff, causing fuel to spill on the road, authorities said.
A single-engine 1978 Grumman G-164 Ag Cat, as seen in photos from the field where it crashed, clipped a fence about 6 a.m. in Pleasant Grove before striking a Ford F-150. The driver was taken to a hospital for “precautionary injuries,” the California Highway Patrol’s Yuba-Sutter office said.
Only the pilot, who didn’t suffer injuries, was aboard the single-engine biplane, said a spokeswoman with the Federal Aviation Administration, which will investigate the incident alongside the National Transportation Safety Board.
According to NTSB crash data, the plane had a previous accident in 1984 when the Ag Cat rolled over when its front wheels sank into soft ground during a landing in Rosedale, Mississippi.
Approximately 280 gallons of general aviation fuel spilled from the plane’s 400-gallon tank onto asphalt and dirt, according to a report by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. The spill was contained and no water was tainted, the report said.
The CHP closed Nicolaus Avenue and Pleasant Grove Road in Sutter County as the clean-up wrapped up.
