- Date
- October 8, 2024, 10:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Corcoran, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N243LAAir Tractor AT502
- Defining event
- Approach: Fuel starvation
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20241008015419A
- Case key
- 195296
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
A total loss of engine power due to the pilot's improper manipulation of the condition lever during flight, which resulted in fuel starvation and a forced landing.
Findings · 3
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
According to the pilot, while maneuvering from base to final, he noticed the fuel control condition lever was in the cut-off position, which subsequently resulted in fuel starvation and a total loss of engine power. He immediately pushed the power, propeller, and condition levers full forward, but did not observe an expected increase in power. After an unsuccessful attempt to restart the engine, the airplane landed in a cotton field short of the intended runway. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that substantial damage to the left wing and aileron. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N243LA
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT502 (B)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 502B-3020
- Built
- 2015
- Airframe hours
- 5,020
- Engine
- Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6-34AG, 750 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Lakeland Dusters Aviation Inc, doing business as Lakeland Aviation
- Registered owner
- H & G Farms Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 25, 2024 · 32 hours before
- Departed
- 43CN · Corcocran, CA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- PVT · 10 Strip, runway 18/36, 5,280 × 80 ft, dirt
- 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
- 46
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 1, 2022
- Seat
- Center
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 8,074 total · 1,976 in this make and model · 7,945.8 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 8 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.85 inHg
- Observed at
- KVIS, 22 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KVIS 081656Z AUTO 18008KT 10SM CLR 27/12 A2985 RMK AO2 SLP105 T02670122 $=
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 9, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 9.3 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.