- Date
- October 1, 2024, 16:20 UTC
- Place
- Moffett, OK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N45472Air Tractor AT-402A
- Defining event
- Landing: Sys/Comp malf/fail (non-power)
- 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
- 20241001014609A
- Case key
- 195238
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 tail wheel assembly’s fractured bolt which resulted in the pilot’s loss of directional control during landing.
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
During the landing roll on a dirt strip, the pilot felt the airplane’s tail section “bottom out”. The pilot lost rudder control, and the airplane veered off the strip into vegetation and ground looped. During the ground loop, the left wing struck the ground, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing and aileron. A postaccident examination of the airplane found that one of the bolts which secured the tail wheel spring to the tail wheel housing assembly had fractured. The pilot did not submit the National Transportation Safety Board Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report Form 6120.1.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N45472
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-402A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 402A-0794
- Built
- 1991
- Engine
- PWC PT6A-20, 550 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Hookin A Ag Inc, doing business as Hookin A Ag Inc
- Registered owner
- Allard Evan Wade DBA
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Airport
- NA · Private strip, runway 270, dirt
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 35
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 4-point
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- KFSM, 5 nm away
- METAR
- KFSM 012053Z 01008KT 10SM CLR 31/13 A3009 RMK AO2 SLP185 T03060133 56016
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 5, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.8 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.