- Date
- July 3, 2013, 14:50 local (19:50 UTC)
- Place
- Tillar, AR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N5182CAir Tractor AT-502B
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Part(s) separation from AC
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 13, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20130703010939A
- Case key
- 87429
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
The loss of engine throttle control during takeoff due to an unsecured cockpit throttle control pin, which resulted in a runway overrun.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
During takeoff, the airplane sustained a partial loss of engine power and overran the runway after the pilot lost cockpit throttle control. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed a throttle control pin lying on the cockpit floor. A cotter pin for the throttle control pin was missing; the length of time it had been missing could not be determined.
Factual narrative
On July 3, 2013, about 1450 central daylight time, an Air Tractor, Inc. AT-502B, N5182C, impacted terrain when it overran the runway during takeoff from a Tillar Airport (5AR1) near Tillar, Arkansas. The airplane experienced a partial loss of engine power when there was a loss of cockpit throttle control. A throttle control pin was found on the cockpit floor. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, and wings. The commercial pilot was uninjured. The airplane was registered to and operated by Confederate Air Inc under 14 Code of Federal Regulation Part 137 as an aerial application flight and was not operating on a flight plan. The local flight was originating at the time of the accident. According to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector from the Little Rock, Arkansas Flight Standards District Office, post-accident examination of the airplane revealed that a cockpit throttle control pin was lying on the cockpit floor. A cotter pin for the throttle control pin was missing, and the length of time it had been missing was not determined. The last maintenance inspection of the airplane was a 100-hour inspection dated April 18, 2013, at a Hobbs time of 57 hours. A National Transportation Safety Board Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report was not received from the pilot.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5182C
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-502B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 502B-0499
- Built
- 1998
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney PT6A, 500 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Confederate Air Inc
- Registered owner
- Confederate Air Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 18, 2013
- Departed
- PVT · Tillar, AR
- Destination
- PVT · Tillar, AR
- Airport
- 5AR1 · Tillar Airport, runway 36, 3,200 × 85 ft, asphalt
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
- 36
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 11,000 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- LLQ, 15 nm away
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 4, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.