- Date
- July 11, 1995, 11:40 local (16:40 UTC)
- Place
- Cash, AR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1004WAir Tractor AT-401
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 8, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950711018519A
- Case key
- 19501
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
Engine power loss due to partial failure of one magneto combined with total failure of the other magneto. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing.
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 en route to fertilize a field when the engine lost power and began 'backfiring, missing and smoking.' The pilot dumped his load and attempted to return to the departure airstrip. The engine continued to lose power and the pilot was forced to land in a bean field. The airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. Magneto testing revealed one magneto was not firing due to internal drive gear failure and the other magneto was misfiring due to a 'wide' point gap clearance.
Factual narrative
On July 11, 1995, at 1140 central daylight time, an Air Tractor AT-401, N1004W, nosed over during a forced landing near Cash, Arkansas. The commercial pilot was not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. No flight plan was filed for the aerial application flight conducted by Morrison Aircraft Corporation under Title 14 CFR Part 137. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight which departed a private airstrip near Cash at 1135 CDT.
According to the pilot, he was en route to fertilize a field when the engine lost power and began "backfiring, missing and smoking." The pilot dumped the load of Urea and attempted to return to the private airstrip. The engine continued to lose power and the pilot landed in a soybean field. The airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. Damage included a bent vertical stabilizer and rudder and deformed rear fuselage longerons.
The operator arranged to have a certified repair station examine the magnetos. When run on a test stand, one of the magnetos failed to spark. Disassembly revealed that an internal drive gear had failed. The other magneto was tested and failed to spark below 400 rpm and displayed "erratic misfiring" above 400 rpm. The point gap clearance was measured and found to be "too wide causing misfiring at low and high rpm."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1004W
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-401
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 401-0687
- Airframe hours
- 2,225
- Engine
- P&W R-1340-AN-1, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Morrison Aircraft Corp.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 31, 1995 · 44 hours before
- Departed
- NONE
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
- 34
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 361 total · 108 in this make and model · 296 as pilot in command · 132 in the last 90 days · 106 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F
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 N1004W · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.