- Date
- April 24, 2023, 09:00 local (14:00 UTC)
- Place
- Good Hope, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N623LAAir Tractor AT-402A
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Runway excursion
- 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
- 20230424003379A
- Case key
- 107307
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 decision to land on a runway where there was insufficient clearance from obstructions (wheat crop) to operate safely.
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 of the agricultural airplane was landing on a private runway that was about 24 feet wide and surrounded by wheat crop. The pilot described that, during the landing, the airplane was closer to the edge of the runway than he thought, and the airplane’s right spray boom caught on the wheat after touchdown. The airplane subsequently veered off the runway and into the wheat field, resulting in substantial damage to the airplane’s empennage and left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that he should have checked the runway conditions before landing and considered the possible impact of the growing wheat on his operation from the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N623LA
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-402A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 402A-1127
- Built
- 2000
- Airframe hours
- 8,000
- Engine
- Pratt & Whittney PT6A-11AG, 550 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Pitts Aerial Services
- Registered owner
- Neal Aircraft Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 22, 2022
- Departed
- PVT · Cullman, AL
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- PVT · None, runway 36, 2,500 × 24 ft, asphalt
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
- 28
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 19, 2023
- Seat
- Center
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total · 800 in this make and model · 1,950 as pilot in command · 90 in the last 90 days · 40 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.21 inHg
- Observed at
- KCMD, 5 nm away
- METAR
- KCMD 241355Z AUTO 06011KT 10SM FEW120 10/01 A3021 RMK AO2
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 29, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.6 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.
Other investigations on N623LA · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.