Air Tractor AT-400A N3161J

Summary

On 13 June 1997 at about 21:00 local time, a Air Tractor AT-400A registered N3161J was involved in an accident near Black Oak, Arkansas, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

13 June 1997 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Black Oak, Arkansas, United States

Coordinates

35.1405, -90.1806

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-400A

Registration

N3161J

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Earle → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW97LA223

1 person had minor injuries.

The loss of engine power due to compressor turbine blade failure. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

Shortly after takeoff, the agricultural airplane lost power. During the forced landing, the airplane was destroyed. Wreckage examination revealed that the propeller blades were in the flat pitch range, bent straight rearward. The blades did not have a twist set nor was there leading edge damage corresponding to powered rotation at impact. Engine examination revealed that all of the blades of the compressor turbine disc were damaged or fragmented. Two of the 58 blades were found fractured at the root and several blade tips showed thermal distress. The compressor disc shroud segment had ballistic indentations corresponding to the fragmented compressor blades. Both power turbine and compressor turbine shroud segments did not show circumferential machining. The fuel filter from the high pressure fuel pump had black residues embedded throughout the filter element. All 58 blades on the compressor turbine disc had been replaced in 1991. No reference was found as to whether or not the replacement blades were new or used parts. The last recorded hot section was in December, 1994, at 7,063.2 hours TSOH. The TSOH at the time of the accident was 7,632.5 hours.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.