# Accident 19990525005599A: Airtrc AT400, Elkhart, KS, May 25, 1999

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: May 25, 1999, 09:45 local time
- Place: Elkhart, KS
- Airport: Elkhart-Morton County Airport
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Scud Running
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 37.0006° N, 101.8892° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=37.0006&lon=-101.8892&mi=10
- Aircraft: N400MJ, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N400MJ-2000-05-08) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Air Tractor AT-400 (registry code 0390202, https://openairdocs.org/model/air-tractor-at-400) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: AIRTRC AT400
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- Pilot flight hours: 3,216 total, 100 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB CHI99FA165](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI99FA165) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19990525005599A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

ACFT WAS ON A RELOCATION FLIGHT WHEN IT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, THE PILOT/SOLE OCCUPANT SUFFERED FATAL INJURIES, THE ACFT WAS DESTROYED. (.4) THE AIRCRAFT WAS BEING FLOWN FROM ULYSSES, KANSAS, FOLLOWING MAINTENANCE TO THE AERIAL SPRAY SYSTEM. A DRILLING RIG WORKER, OPERATING AT A 96-FOOT TALL TEMPORARY OIL-DRILLING RIG, LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 0.75 MILES NORTH OF THE ACCIDENT SITE, SAID THAT THE AIRPLANE CAME DIRECTLY AT THEM ON A SOUTH HEADING. THE WORKER REPORTED THAT THE ALTITUDE OF THE AIRCRAFT WAS BELOW THE HEIGHT OF THE RIG (96 FEET) BUT ABOVE HIS POSITION APPROXIMATELY 50 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL. THE WORKER STATED THAT THE AIRCRAFT BANKED RIGHT TO AVOID THE TOWER AND FLEW SOUTHERLY INTO THE FOG.  THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED TERRAIN APPROXIMATELY 0.75 MILES SOUTH OF THE DRILLING RIG.  THE WEATHER 50 NAUTICAL MILES EAST OF THE ACCIDENT SITE WAS REPORTED AS OVERCAST AT 300 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL.  WITNESSES ESTIMATED THE LOCAL CEILING TO BE 180 TO 200 FEET AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT.  THERE IS NO RECORD OF THE PILOT OBTAINING A WEATHER BRIEFING.  THERE WERE NO MECHANICAL DISCREPANCIES FOUND DURING THE EXAMINATION OF THE WRECKAGE THAT COULD BE ASSOCIATED WITH A PREEXISTI NG CONDITION. (-23)THE A/C DEPARTED ULYSSES, KANSAS ON A PART 91 REPOSITIONING FLIGHT UNDER MARGINAL VISUAL CONDITIONS. THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THE PILOT RECEIVED A WEATHER BRIEFING PRIOR TO THE FLIGHT. WITNESSES REPORTED THE AIRCRAFT WAS SEEN MANEUVERING AT LESS THAN 100' AGL IN FOGGY CONDITIONS JUST PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT WHICH OCCURRED 1.5 MILES NORTH OF THE ELKHART-MORTON COUNTY AIRPORT. NO MECHANICAL DEFECTS WERE DISCOVERED DURING THE INVESTIGATION.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB CHI99FA165](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI99FA165), May 25, 1999: Air Tractor AT-400 (N400MJ), Elkhart, KS, destroyed, 1 fatal. Probable cause: The pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision and his inadvertent flight into instrument meteorological conditions which resulted in spatial disorientation and subsequent loss of aircraft…

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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