# NTSB CEN12LA310: Air Tractor AT-602, N85239, Humnoke, AR, May 19, 2012 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: May 19, 2012, 16:00 local (21:00 UTC) - Place: Humnoke, AR - Coordinates: 34.506111, -91.753334 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=34.5061&lon=-91.7533&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Landing-flare/touchdown: Landing area undershoot](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/370) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report October 15, 2012 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Central Region - Parties: Federal Aviation Administration - NTSB case key (mKey): 83717 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=CEN12LA310 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/83717/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=83717 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN12LA310 ## Probable cause The pilot’s failure to attain the proper touchdown point, which resulted in a landing undershoot. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Performance/control parameters: descent/approach/glide path](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062040): Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability · Not attained/maintained (probable cause); cases with it: [Air Tractor AT-602, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062040/cases.md?model=0390309), [All aircraft, 809 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062040/cases.md) - [Use of equip/info: aircraft control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040): Personnel issues › Task performance · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Air Tractor AT-602, 17 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md?model=0390309), [All aircraft, 9,295 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Landing-flare/touchdown: Landing area undershoot](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/370) (defining event); cases with it: [Air Tractor AT-602, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/370/sequence.md?model=0390309), [All aircraft, 201 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/370/sequence.md) - [Landing-flare/touchdown: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) ](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470); cases with it: [Air Tractor AT-602, 37 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md?model=0390309), [All aircraft, 10,189 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md) - [Landing-flare/touchdown: Landing gear collapse](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/094); cases with it: [Air Tractor AT-602, 4 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/094/sequence.md?model=0390309), [All aircraft, 1,787 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/094/sequence.md) ## Analysis The pilot was returning from the completion of his 28th aerial application flight on the day of the accident. He stated that he misjudged the touchdown point for the landing and landed short of the dirt runway, striking a levee. He said that he had been working a full schedule all week and there was no doubt that he was “somewhat” tired, but he believed that a wind change “had more to do with the accident than any other factor.” ## Factual narrative On May 19, 2012, at 1600 central daylight time, an Air Tractor Inc AT-602, N85239, impacted terrain during landing when the airplane touched down short of runway 36 at a private airstrip near Humnoke, Arkansas. The pilot stated that he misjudged the touchdown point. The certificated commercial pilot was uninjured. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The airplane was registered to and operated by County Line Flying Service Inc under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 as an aerial application flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan had not been filed for the local flight that originated from the private airstrip about 1553. The pilot stated that he had been working a full schedule all week and there was no doubt that he was somewhat tired. On the day of the accident, he started working about 0630, and the takeoff before the accident was his 28th load. He said that the wind change probably had more to do with the accident than any other factor. He said that he misjudged the touchdown point and landed short of runway 36 (2,600 feet by 60 feet, dry dirt). ## Aircraft - Registration: [N85239](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N85239), registered now, S/N 602-1130, built 2005 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: AIR TRACTOR AT-602 - Registry model: [Air Tractor AT-602](https://openairdocs.org/model/air-tractor-at-602) (registry code 0390309) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Pratt & Whitney PT6A series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/pratt-whitney-pt6a-series) (registry code 52032, turbo-prop) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 1130 - Airframe hours: 3943 - Engines: Pratt & Whitney PT6A-60AG 1050 horsepower turbo prop - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Aerial application, Part 137 - Operator: County Line Flying Service Inc - Registered owner: County Line Flying Service Inc - Airworthiness certificate: Special, Restricted (Special) - Last inspection: Annual, February 17, 2012 - Departed: PVT, Humnoke, AR - Destination: PVT, Humnoke, AR - Airport: PVT, Brown Farm Dirt Strip, runway 36, 2,600 × 60 ft, dirt ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 61; injuries: none; commercial; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 2, with waivers/limitations; last flight review April 17, 2012; seat: single; flight hours: 22,000 total, 8,000 in this make and model, 22,000 as pilot in command, 204 in the last 90 days, 115 in the last 30 days, 8 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 165° at 6 knots - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 84 °F ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20120519007899A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20120519007899A), May 19, 2012: Air Tractor Inc AT-602, Humnoke, AR, Substantial damage. On may 19, 2012 at 1600 CDT, a Air tractor 602, N85239, registered to county line aviation, inc. collided with a rice levee during landing at Brown farm Dirt… ## Docket (2 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 8, 2012, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=83717. 625 KB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 582 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40374471&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Redacted.PDF - Email - Pilot (item 2, .PDF, 43 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40374472&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Email%20-%20Pilot-Redacted.PDF 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. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.