- Date
- July 15, 2021, 11:10 local (16:10 UTC)
- Place
- Edcouch, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N334LAAir Tractor AT502
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Collision during takeoff/land
- 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
- Federal Aviation Administration (San Antonio FSDO)
- FAA report
- 20210715007009A
- Case key
- 103487
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 inadequate compensation for a gusting wind during takeoff.
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
The pilot stated that shortly after liftoff a wind gust decreased the airplane’s climb performance, which resulted in the main landing gear contacting a 10 ft tall sugarcane crop off the end of the runway. The airplane continued to descend into the field where it landed hard on the right main landing gear and came to rest in a nose down attitude. The right wing sustained substantial damage during the accident. The pilot did not report any mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation during the flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N334LA
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT502 (B)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 502B-3187
- Built
- 2019
- Airframe hours
- 1,695
- Engine
- Pratt-Whitney PT6A-34AG, 750 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Sun Valley Dusting Company
- Registered owner
- Sun Valley Dusting Company
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 2, 2021
- Airport
- 6TE0 · Skalitsky Airport, runway 9, 1,900 × 30 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 11, 2020
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 24,001 total · 15,100 in this make and model · 23,791 as pilot in command · 350 in the last 90 days · 125 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 11 knots, gusting 16
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg
- Observed at
- KTXW, 7 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KTXW 151555Z AUTO 17011G16KT 10SM SCT023 SCT031 SCT037 31/24 A3007 RMK AO2 T03050236=
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 4, 2021, 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.