- Date
- July 29, 2009, 10:50 local (15:50 UTC)
- Place
- Dundee, MS
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N502AJAir Tractor AT502
- Defining event
- Takeoff-rejected takeoff: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 9, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20090729013179A
- Case key
- 74402
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 aircraft control during takeoff.
Findings · 2
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 was departing to the north, from a private concrete airstrip, for the purpose of conducting an agricultural application flight. The airplane was loaded with 400 gallons of fungicide, and contained 110 gallons of fuel on board. Shortly after becoming airborne, the airplane began to settle back toward the runway. The pilot attempted to dump the fungicide; however, the airplane settled into a soybean field and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the empennage, fuselage, wings, and engine firewall. The pilot stated that he did not experience any mechanical malfunctions and examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector did not reveal any anomalies. The nearest weather reporting station, located approximately 12 miles north of the accident site, reported winds from 170 degrees at 6 knots, and a temperature of 27 degrees Celsius, about the time of the accident.
Factual narrative
The pilot was departing to the north, from a private concrete airstrip, for the purpose of conducting an agricultural application flight. The airplane was loaded with 400 gallons of fungicide, and contained 110 gallons of fuel on board. Shortly after becoming airborne, the airplane began to settle back toward the runway. The pilot attempted to dump the fungicide; however, the airplane settled into a soybean field and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the empennage, fuselage, wings, and engine firewall. The pilot stated that he did not experience any mechanical malfunctions and examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector did not reveal any anomalies. The nearest weather reporting station, located approximately 12 miles north of the accident site, reported winds from 170 degrees at 6 knots, and a temperature of 27 degrees Celsius, about the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N502AJ
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT502
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 5020054
- Airframe hours
- 9,626
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney PT6A-34, 750 lbs thrust, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Kevin Bailey Jones
- Registered owner
- Tunica Air, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 12, 2009
- Departed
- NONE · Dundee, MS
- Destination
- NONE · Dundee, MS
- Airport
- NONE · Paul's Airstrip, runway 36, 1,800 × 16 ft, concrete
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
- 37
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 4, 2008
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 6,200 total · 1,982 in this make and model · 6,000 as pilot in command · 308 in the last 90 days · 100 in the last 30 days · 20 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,600 ft broken
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.92 inHg
- Observed at
- UTA, 12 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 18, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 792 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.