- Date
- July 21, 2023, 11:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Plains, KS
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N602AAAir Tractor AT-602
- Defining event
- Takeoff: 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
- 20230721009349A
- Case key
- 192703
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 control during takeoff from a water-contaminated runway.
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
Prior to flight, the pilot noted that rain had made the turf airstrip too wet to conduct aerial application flights. The middle of the airstrip had standing water, but the edges of the runway had fewer areas of water. The pilot took off at a reduced weight, without an aerial load, to fly to another location. During the takeoff, the airplane contacted the water on the runway, and the pilot lost control. The airplane subsequently veered off the runway resulting in the wing’s spray booms getting entangled in high weeds. The airplane spun and came to rest. Substantial damage was sustained to the left wing and empennage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N602AA
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-602
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 602-1194
- Built
- 2010
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-60AG, 1,050 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Dickson Shannon
- Registered owner
- Dickson Shannon
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Airport
- 00 · Private Airstrip, runway 35, 3,200 × 25 ft, grass/turf
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
- 50
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 20, 2023
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 30,948 total · 5,240 in this make and model · 340 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,100 ft broken
- Temperature
- 32 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.22 inHg
- Observed at
- KLBL, 22 nm away
- METAR
- SPECI KLBL 211607Z AUTO 01010KT 10SM SCT012 BKN021 OVC027 A3022 RMK AO2 FZRANO $=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 9, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.6 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.