- Date
- June 28, 2002, 09:00 local (14:00 UTC)
- Place
- Dyer, TN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N73088Air Tractor AT-301
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20020628023649A
- Case key
- 55434
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 failure of the pilot to maintain wingtip clearance with corn crops at the edge of the road resulting in the collision with the crops.
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 stated that he was positioning the airplane to where the accident occurred to load chemical. After touchdown on the road, the right wing contacted corn on the side of the road. The airplane veered 90 degrees and came to rest upright approximately 50 feet into the field. The accident was reported by the FAA to the NTSB on July 30, 2002.
Factual narrative
On June 28, 2002, about 0900 central daylight time, an Air Tractor AT-301, N73088, registered to a private individual, dba Russell Flying Service, collided with corn crops during the landing roll on a road near Dyer, Tennessee. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 positioning flight. The airplane was substantially damaged and the commercial-rated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated about 10 minutes earlier from Everett-Steward Airport, Union City, Tennessee.
The pilot stated that he was positioning the airplane to where the accident occurred to load chemical. After touchdown on the road, the right wing contacted corn on the side of the road. The airplane veered 90 degrees and came to rest upright approximately 50 feet into the field.
The accident was reported by the FAA to the NTSB on July 30, 2002.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N73088
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT-301
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 301-0633
- Airframe hours
- 7,440
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney R1340-AN1, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Larry Russell
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 14, 2001 · 229 hours before
- Departed
- KUCY · Union City, TN
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
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Private, Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- February 23, 2001
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 18,560 total · 2,600 in this make and model · 17,570 as pilot in command · 150 in the last 90 days · 100 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- KMKL, 28 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 21, 2002, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 358 KB 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.