- Date
- August 2, 2023, 06:20 local (11:20 UTC)
- Place
- Halstad, MN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N45453Air Tractor AT-502
- 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
- Air Tractor, FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20230802008139A
- Case key
- 192785
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 attempt to rotate the airplane without sufficient airspeed which resulted in a lack of climb performance and impact with terrain. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s decision to attempt the takeoff with a tailwind.
Findings · 5
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 after loading about 100 gallons of jet fuel and about 420 gallons of aerial spray product, he began a takeoff roll on the 2,506 ft asphalt runway. The pilot attempted to rotate the airplane with about 300 ft of runway remaining. Unable to climb out of ground effect, the pilot attempted to jettison the aerial spray product during and after takeoff. The airplane was airborne for about 200 yards before it settled into the soybean field. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, empennage, and fuselage. During an interview, the pilot stated that he took off with a tailwind with one notch of flaps and remembers over torquing the engine. He reported that he likely rotated too soon, was slow, and never got out of ground effect. The pilot reported, and a postaccident examination corroborated that, there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N45453
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-502
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 502-0122
- Built
- 1991
- Airframe hours
- 11,012
- Engine
- Pratt and Whitney PT6-34 AG, 750 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Airborne Custom Spraying
- Registered owner
- Top Hat Aerial Applicators Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 7, 2023
- Departed
- 8MN2 · Halstad, MN
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- 8MN2 · Aslesen, runway 18, 2,506 × 22 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, 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
- 33
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 30, 2022
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 9,500 total · 1,700 in this make and model · 9,200 as pilot in command · 225 in the last 90 days · 85 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.91 inHg
- Observed at
- KFAR, 22 nm away
- METAR
- KFAR 021053Z AUTO 11006KT 10SM CLR 19/17 A2991
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 10, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.4 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.