A Piper PA-11 struck power lines while landing after a pumpkin-drop competition near Rexburg, Idaho, on 19 October 2024. The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause was the pilot’s failure to see and avoid the wires during the approach. The 79-year-old pilot was seriously injured and the 18-year-old passenger sustained minor injuries; the aircraft was substantially damaged.
The accident occurred at about 12:30 local time at a farm field with a landing strip. After dropping pumpkins and missing the target, the pilot approached to land. He flew over one set of power lines before the aircraft hit a second, parallel set that he said he had not seen. The NTSB report records that the pilot was hospitalised for 12 weeks; it does not detail his subsequent recovery.
The pilot told investigators that the prevailing winds required aircraft to fly over transmission wires before landing. He had earlier landed with a strong tailwind and selected a different approach to avoid repeating that manoeuvre. Yellow warning tape attached to the wires had blown against a pole, according to the account published by aeroTELEGRAPH.
The NTSB did not travel to the scene. Its finding concerns the pilot’s failure to see and avoid the wires, rather than attributing the accident to the event or the aircraft’s earlier pumpkin drop. The case illustrates the visibility risk posed by power lines on low-altitude approaches to temporary or improvised landing strips.