Air Tractor AT-502B N61768

Summary

On 7 October 1999 at about 21:20 local time, a Air Tractor AT-502B registered N61768 was involved in an accident near Bay City, Texas, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 October 1999 at 21:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Bay City, Texas, United States

Coordinates

28.9709, -95.9599

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-502B

Registration

N61768

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW00LA008

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's inadvertent stall. A factor was the pilot's encounter with the airplane's wake turbulence.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot completed the 8th seeding pass over a field and was turning to make the 9th pass when the agricultural airplane shuddered and made three uncommanded banks prior to impacting the terrain. The pilot initially stated that he flew through his own wake turbulence and stalled the airplane while in a 60-degree bank to the right. However, the pilot later stated that he thought the propeller may have malfunctioned resulting in the loss of airplane control. Post-accident examination of the airplane flight controls and the propeller revealed no anomalies that would have prevented normal operation of the aircraft prior to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.