- Date
- June 20, 1997, 15:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Labelle, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N23728Air Tractor AT-301A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 15, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970620015289A
- Case key
- 3861
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed during a turn-around maneuver, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall/mush and collision with the terrain.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
After reloading to apply fertilizer to a sugar cane field, the pilot took off and made a swath run. During a turn-around maneuver for the second swath, at about 200 yards away from the field and 50 feet above the ground, the airplane began sinking rapidly. The pilot added full power, and the airplane mushed into the ground. The airplane hit a levee, nosed over, and came to rest about 100 feet into the sugar cane field.
Factual narrative
On June 20, 1997, at 1530 eastern daylight time, an Air Tractor AT-301A, N23728, collided with the ground while maneuvering, at Labelle, Florida. The airplane was operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 137 and visual flight rules. The prevailing weather was visual meteorological conditions. There was no flight plan filed for this aerial application flight. The commercial pilot was not injured, and the airplane was substantially damaged. The flight originated about 1525 from a farm road near Labelle.
According to the pilot's report of the accident, he had just completed the first swath turn around and was lining up for the second spray swath of a sugar cane field with dry fertilizer. About 200 yards from the field, at 50 feet above ground level, the airplane "began to sink rapidly". The pilot added full power, however, the airplane continued to mush into the ground. Subsequently, the airplane struck a levee, crossed a canal, and nosed over incurring substantial damage. The airplane came to rest about 100 feet into the sugar cane field.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N23728
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-301A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 301-0424
- Airframe hours
- 4,684
- Engine
- P&W R-1340, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Lyles Story
- Registered owner
- Story Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 31, 1997 · 80 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · FL
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 50
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 13,000 total · 1,000 in this make and model · 13,000 as pilot in command · 150 in the last 90 days · 100 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 45° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 93 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RSW, 20 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.