- Date
- June 29, 2020, 11:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- South Bay, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N42190Air Tractor AT502
- Defining event
- Approach: 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
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20200629007739A
- Case key
- 101507
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 loss of airplane control during the approach, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and impact with vegetation and terrain.
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
The pilot was performing an aerial application flight, and after distributing dry fertilizer he entered a downwind approach to land on a dirt road next to the field he was spraying. During a 180° turn to line up with the road, the airplane entered an aerodynamic stall. He added power, levelled the wings, deployed the flaps, and recovered from the stall; however, the airplane was too low and its landing gear struck sugar cane in the field. The airplane subsequently impacted the ground, and the fuselage and empennage were substantially damaged. The operator reported there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N42190
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT502 (B)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 502B-2705
- Built
- 2010
- Airframe hours
- 4,374
- Engine
- Pratt Whitney PT6-34, 750 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 21, 2020 · 146 hours before
- Departed
- X10 · Belle Glade, FL
- Destination
- X10 · Belle Glade, FL
- Airport
- X10 · Belle Glade State Muni
- Equipment
- Satellite tracking device, 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
- 57
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 24, 2020
- Seat
- Center
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 3,106 total · 1,639 in this make and model · 3,013 as pilot in command · 211 in the last 90 days · 72 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 9 statute miles
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 77 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.06 inHg
- Observed at
- BCT, 25 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 22, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.2 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.