- Date
- April 30, 2007, 13:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Benoit, MS
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N629LAAir Tractor AT-602
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 27, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Jackson, Mississippi
- Case key
- 65690
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 clearance with the crops which resulted in a ground loop. A contributing factor was the narrow airstrip
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 right spray boom from the tailwheel equipped agricultural airplane became entangled with tall wheat while landing on a narrow gravel airstrip. The 2,236-hour commercial pilot, who reported having accumulated a total of 128 hours in the same make and model of airplane, lost control of the airplane resulting in a ground-loop. The aft section of the fuselage sustained structural damage. The turbine powered airplane came to rest in an upright position and the pilot was able to exit unassisted. The wheat was displaced approximately four feet from the airstrip's left edge and was growing adjacent to the right edge. Earlier that day, the pilot reported that he had observed wheat entangled in the right spray boom following two previous landings on the same airstrip. An examination of the airplane's right wheel at the accident site revealed that it was free to rotate and that the right brake was not dragging. The wind velocity at the time of the accident was reported between 1 to 3 knots.
Factual narrative
The right spray boom from the tailwheel equipped agricultural airplane became entangled with tall wheat while landing on a narrow gravel airstrip. The 2,236-hour commercial pilot, who reported having accumulated a total of 128 hours in the same make and model of airplane, lost control of the airplane resulting in a ground-loop. The aft section of the fuselage sustained structural damage. The turbine powered airplane came to rest in an upright position and the pilot was able to exit unassisted. The wheat was displaced approximately four feet from the airstrip's left edge and was growing adjacent to the right edge. Earlier that day, the pilot reported that he had observed wheat entangled in the right spray boom following two previous landings on the same airstrip. An examination of the airplane's right wheel at the accident site revealed that it was free to rotate and that the right brake was not dragging. The wind velocity at the time of the accident was reported between 1 to 3 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N629LA
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-602
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 602-0629
- Airframe hours
- 4,068
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-60A, 1,173 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Shelby Air Service, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Pro-Ag Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 1, 2007
- Departed
- Benoit, MS
- Airport
- UNK · Crop Duster Airstrip, runway 18, 2,000 × 30 ft, gravel
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
- 25
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 1, 2005
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 2,236 total · 128 in this make and model · 2,200 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 75 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F
Other investigations on N629LA · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.