- Date
- August 4, 2013, 09:20 local (14:20 UTC)
- Place
- Simmesport, LA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N3655GAir Tractor AT-301
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 30, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20130804015659A
- Case key
- 87710
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 pilot's failure to maintain proper airplane pitch control while maneuvering at an altitude that was too low for recovery.
Findings · 3
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
The pilot was performing aerial application of chemicals to a field when the airplane began to settle during a low-altitude turn. The settling was consistent with flight at a high angle-of-attack or high drag condition, and the airplane may have been near or at its stall speed. The pilot was unable to recover from the descent so he made an emergency landing during which the airplane impacted an embankment.
Factual narrative
On August 4, 2013, about 0920 central daylight time, an Air Tractor Inc AT-301, N3655G, impacted terrain during an aerial application of a field near Simmesport, Louisiana. The airplane received substantial damage to a wing. The commercial pilot sustained minor injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by Pro-Air LLC under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 as an aerial application flight that was not operating on a flight plan. The local flight originated from a private airstrip (5LA1) near Hamburg, Louisiana about 0855. The pilot stated that the airplane settled while turning over a field that was being sprayed. He could not recover from the descent so he landed the airplane straight ahead of the flight path and the airplane impacted a railroad embankment. The pilot's recommendation of how this accident could have been prevented was: "I could of made a wider turn," and "I could of put flaps in when airplane began to settle."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3655G
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-301
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 301-0292
- Airframe hours
- 6,981
- Engine
- Pratt and Whitney R1340, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Pro-Air LLC
- Registered owner
- Pro-Air LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 1, 2012
- Departed
- 5LA1 · Hamburg, LA
- Destination
- Simmesport, LA
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 30
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 589 total · 349 in this make and model · 537 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- AEX, 50 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 5, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.9 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.
Other investigations on N3655G · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.