- Date
- August 11, 1995, 06:45 local (12:45 UTC)
- Place
- Cannon Afb, NM
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N4398SAir Tractor AT-301
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 19, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950811033049A
- Case key
- 19532
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 inadvertent stall. A factor was the pilot's premature retraction of the flaps.
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
While executing a turn around maneuver during an aerial application flight, the pilot retracted the flaps. The airplane descended and impacted the ground.
Factual narrative
On August 11, 1995, at 0645 mountain daylight time (all times in this report will remain in mountain daylight time), an Air Tractor AT-301, N4398S, collided with terrain while maneuvering near Cannon AFB, New Mexico. The commercial pilot was not injured; however, the airplane was destroyed. The airplane, was operated by Tate Spraying Service under Title 14 CFR Part 137. The flight originated from Clovis, New Mexico, at 0630. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local aerial application flight and a flight plan was not filed.
On the enclosed Pilot/Operator Report, the pilot stated that he was making a "spray turn when after making my downwind turn I was turning back upwind, I retracted my flaps to [too] early and it caused the plane to stall." Subsequently, the airplane impacted "flat into the ground." The pilot reported winds from 180 degrees at 4 knots.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, examined the site and reported that the leading edges of both wings were crushed inward to the wing spars. The fuselage and empennage came to rest upright and the engine was separated from the airframe.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4398S
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-301
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 301-0058
- Airframe hours
- 4,850
- Engine
- P&W R-1340-AN1, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Tobin D. Tate
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 22, 1995 · 40 hours before
- Departed
- CVS
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
- 29
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 900 total · 40 in this make and model · 846 as pilot in command · 250 in the last 90 days · 150 in the last 30 days · 10 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.