- Date
- October 2, 2020, 07:30 local (12:30 UTC)
- Place
- Egypt, AR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N4540FAir Tractor AT402
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Low altitude operation/event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20201002012259A
- Case key
- 102087
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 clearance from a tree limb during a low-level aerial application flight.
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 flying an aerial application pass to a rice field when the right wing struck a tree limb at the edge of the field. After the collision, the airplane was “descending slowly and trying to roll.” He executed a forced landing to an open field. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4540F
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT402
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 402-0784
- Built
- 1990
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney PT6A-28, 715 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Over The Top Aviation Inc.
- Registered owner
- Over The Top Aviation Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 11, 2020 · 28 hours before
- Departed
- 9AR9 · Cash, AR
- Airport
- 9AR9 · Over the Top Aviation
- 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
- 32
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 2, 2019
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,090 total · 560 in this make and model · 1,000 as pilot in command · 274 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 0.5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.27 inHg
- Observed at
- JBR, 14 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 2, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.7 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.