- Date
- August 25, 2022, 10:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Murray, NE · Wet landing strip near aerial application operations
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5951BAir Tractor AT-602
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control on ground
- 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
- 20220825013779A
- Case key
- 105862
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 airplane control during landing resulting in an impact with crop and a subsequent ground-loop. Contributing was the wet turf airstrip.
Findings · 4
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 reported that there had been light rain in the morning prior to the flight and when he took off from the turf airstrip to conduct an aerial application flight, the turf was wet from the rain. Following applying fertilizer to a nearby cornfield, the pilot returned to the airstrip to land. After the main landing gear and tailwheel touched down and as the pilot applied brakes to steer, the airplane skidded, and the right wing struck cornstalks in the adjacent field. The airplane then ground-looped and rolled over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and left wing and aileron. The pilot reported that there were no other preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation, and that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the brake system.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5951B
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-602
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 602-1209
- Built
- 2011
- Airframe hours
- 3,563
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-60AG, 1,050 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Murdoch Aerial Spraying LLC
- Registered owner
- Murdoch Aerial Spraying LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 2, 2022 · 349 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- NE82 · Nolte Farms Airport, runway 22, 2,500 × 75 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Satellite tracking device, 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
- 40
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 18, 2022
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 3,607 total · 1,450 in this make and model · 300 in the last 90 days · 70 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 71 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- PMV, 4 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 13, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 14.0 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.