- Date
- June 15, 2016, 18:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Delhi, LA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1002LAir Tractor AT 502
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report September 12, 2016
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20160615012169A
- Case key
- 93399
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 inability to maintain directional control during the landing roll as a result of a piece of concrete from the runway impacting the right main landing gear brake during the landing roll, resulting in a right brake failure and a ground loop.
Findings · 4
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
During a telephone interview, the pilot of a tailwheel equipped airplane reported that during the landing roll on a private agricultural airstrip, a piece of concrete from the runway chipped off and hit the right brake. The pilot further reported that he applied the brakes to stop on the runway and then ground looped to the left. During the ground loop, the fuselage sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. A postaccident mechanical inspection revealed that the hydraulic line on the right main landing gear was severed, which would have made the right brake inoperable.
Factual narrative
During a telephone interview, the pilot of a tailwheel equipped airplane reported that during the landing roll on a private agricultural airstrip, a piece of concrete from the runway chipped off and hit the right brake. The pilot further reported that he applied the brakes to stop on the runway and then ground looped to the left. During the ground loop, the fuselage sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. A postaccident mechanical inspection revealed that the hydraulic line on the right main landing gear was severed, which would have made the right brake inoperable.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1002L
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT 502 (UNDESIGNAT)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 502-0018
- Built
- 1988
- Airframe hours
- 15,764
- Engine
- P&W Canada PT6A-34AGJ, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 19, 2015
- Departed
- Delhi, LA
- Destination
- Delhi, LA
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Equipment
- 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
- 33
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 15, 2016
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 3,750 total · 1,300 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 79 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.92 inHg
- Observed at
- KTVR, 26 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 31, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.5 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.