- Date
- November 9, 1996, 14:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Calexico, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N1014NAir Tractor AT-401
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 25, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19961109035299A
- Case key
- 29687
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 premature lift-off from the runway and his failure to attain adequate airspeed.
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 pilot reported that after liftoff, the aircraft settled back to the surface and the main landing gear contacted the far edge of an irrigation canal bank at the runway's departure end. The temperature was 88 degrees Fahrenheit at the time the accident occurred and the density altitude was computed to be 1,894 feet msl.
Factual narrative
On November 9, 1996, at 1430 hours Pacific standard time, an Air Tractor AT-401, N1014N, collided with the lip of an irrigation canal during the takeoff initial climb from a private agricultural airstrip near Calexico, California. The aircraft was owned and operated by Frontier Agricultural Service, Inc., of Calexico, and was beginning a local area aerial application flight under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 137. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft incurred substantial damage. The certificated commercial pilot was not injured. The flight was originating at the time of the occurrence.
The pilot reported that after liftoff, the aircraft settled back to the surface and the main landing gear contacted the far edge of an irrigation canal bank at the runway's departure end.
The temperature was 88 degrees Fahrenheit at the time the accident occurred and the density altitude was computed to be 1,894 feet msl.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1014N
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-401
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 401-0729
- Airframe hours
- 4,567
- Engine
- Garrett TPE331-2-201A, 715 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Frontier Agricultural Service
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 3, 1996 · 90 hours before
- Airport
- Private Crop Duster Strip, runway 27, 2,550 × 80 ft, dirt
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
- 59
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 22,200 total · 300 in this make and model · 150 in the last 90 days · 50 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KIP
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.