- Date
- April 21, 2020, 11:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- El Campo, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N419TWAir Tractor AT 602
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 21, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Houston FSDO, Air Tractor, Transportation Safety Board of Canada, Pratt & Whitney Canada
- FAA report
- 20200421005149A
- Case key
- 101198
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 misjudgment of a ground spray rig’s position and his incorrect belief that a runway incursion might occur, which resulted in the pilot attempting and then aborting a go-around, which resulted in a runway excursion and collision with a fence.
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 landing at a remote agricultural airstrip for the first time. While on the final approach to land to the south and just before touchdown, the pilot saw a ground spray rig maneuver toward the airstrip. The airplane touched down uneventfully. The pilot added that the ground spray rig then "pulled out on me, not thinking it could be on the road that went around the end of the airstrip." The pilot incorrectly judged that the ground spray rig was crossing the runway and incorrectly believed that a runway incursion might occur. The pilot applied full power, but due to the turbine engine's lag in accelerating, the pilot realized that he was "not going to have enough time" to perform a go-around. The pilot reduced the power and attempted to stop the airplane before he ran out of available runway. The airplane impacted a perimeter fence and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, the right aileron, and the engine mount. The operator reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot was landing at the remote agricultural airstrip for the first time. While on the final approach to land to the south, just before touchdown, the pilot observed a ground spray rig maneuver toward the turf runway. The airplane touched down uneventfully to the dry grass and during the landing roll, the pilot reported that the ground spray rig, "pulled out on me, not thinking it could be on the road that went around the end of the airstrip." The pilot incorrectly judged, from his elevated position sitting in the tailwheel airplane, that the ground spray rig was crossing the runway, and thought a runway incursion was occurring. The pilot applied full power and with the turbine engine acceleration lag condition, the pilot then realized that he was, "not going to have enough time" to perform a go-around. The pilot reduced the power and attempted to stop the airplane before he ran out of available runway. The airplane impacted a metal perimeter fence and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, the right aileron, and the engine mount. The operator reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N419TW
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT 602 (No Series)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 602-1251
- Built
- 2014
- Airframe hours
- 2,445.1
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-60AG, 1,050 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Tradewind Ag Inc.
- Registered owner
- Paul R. Burton
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 18, 2019 · 39 hours before
- Departed
- 8TE8 · El Campo, TX
- Destination
- None · El Campo, TX
- Airport
- None · Private Agricultural Airstrip, runway 18, 2,580 × 110 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- None
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
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2
- Last flight review
- July 24, 2019
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 6,838.8 total · 450 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,100 ft broken
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KARM, 21 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 31, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.9 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.