Yuba City, Calif. — A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation is underway to determine the cause of a cropduster plane crash May 21 in the East Nicolaus area. The pilot, identified as Nathaniel Allen Brown, 50, of Sacramento, was killed instantly. He was reportedly applying zinc fertilizer to a field and was banking and turning back south, and for unknown reasons nosedived into a field. He was working for Farm Air Flying Service and was an experienced pilot. The NTSB investigator, Patrick Jones, told Green Markets that wreckage has been removed from the field and taken to a storage facility until he can do an examination. “At this point in time all we know is that the pilot was applying a product onto the field. It appears that most of it, if not all of it, had been spread, and he was moving onto another field to pick up some more for a different site,” Jones reported. “Witnesses observed him making a tight turn and then descending into the field.” He said the final report won’t be out for a couple more months, and the cause will be determined by the board after the investigation is complete.
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