- Date
- June 6, 2024, 13:15 local (18:15 UTC)
- Place
- Perryton, TX · Wheat field
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N45123Air Tractor AT-402
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Loss of control in flight
- 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 Lubbock FSDO
- FAA report
- 20240606005089A
- Case key
- 194437
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 exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack during a low-level turn, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of airplane control at too low of an altitude to recover.
Findings · 6
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 operator reported the pilot had completed the low-level aerial application work of applying liquid chemical to a grass field and the hopper was empty. During a right-hand turn, the pilot “turned too hard,” the airplane exceeded its critical angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of airplane control at an altitude too low to allow for recovery. The airplane came to rest upright in a wheat field, a postimpact fire ensued, and the pilot was able to egress from the cockpit. The airplane was destroyed by the postimpact fire. The operator reported there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or the engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N45123
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-402 (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 402-0753
- Built
- 1990
- Airframe hours
- 10,160.6
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-15AG, 680 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Wood Flying, Inc., doing business as Wood Flying, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Wood Flying, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 29, 2024
- Departed
- PYX · Perryton, TX
- Equipment
- ADS-B, 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
- 23
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 631.1 total · 100.8 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 32 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.97 inHg
- Observed at
- KBPC, 13 nm away
- METAR
- KBPC 061815Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR A2997 RMK AO2
Docket · 7
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 22, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 12.3 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.