- Date
- July 26, 2002, 11:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Ulen, MN
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N3167PAir Tractor 301
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 13, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA-Minneapolis, Minnesota-FSDO
- FAA report
- 20020726020039A
- Case key
- 55353
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 not performing an aborted takeoff. A factor was the soybean crop.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The airplane was damaged when it impacted into a soybean field and nosed over during takeoff from a private airstrip. In a written statement, the pilot stated, "Departed as normal, aircraft at midpoint didn't seem to accelerate normally. By the time I got done rechecking flaps, prop, mixture, [and] power, my booms caught the soybeans [and] pulled me down until I went inverted. A postaccident examination of the airplane did not reveal any anomalies.
Factual narrative
On July 26, 2002, at 1100 central daylight time, an Air Tractor 301, N3167P, piloted by a commercial pilot, sustained substantial damage when it impacted into a soybean field and nosed over during takeoff from a private airstrip near Ulen, Minnesota. The grass runway at the airstrip was reported to be 1/2 mile long and 100 feet wide. The takeoff was performed to the west. The 14 CFR Part 137 aerial application flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The pilot received minor injuries. The local flight was originating at the time of the accident.
In a written statement, the pilot stated, "Departed as normal, aircraft at midpoint didn't seem to accelerate normally. By the time I got done rechecking flaps, prop, mixture, [and] power, my booms caught the soybeans [and] pulled me down until I went inverted."
A postaccident examination of the airplane did not reveal any anomalies.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3167P
- Reported as
- Air Tractor 301
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 301-0553
- Airframe hours
- 5,382
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN2, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Ulen Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 16, 2002 · 105 hours before
- Departed
- Ulen, MN
- Airport
- Private airstrip, runway 27, 2,500 × 100 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
- 49
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- April 18, 2000
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 7,500 total · 2,500 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.86 inHg
- Observed at
- DTL
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 25, 2003, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 300 KB 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.