Air Tractor AT-301 N23930

Summary

On 14 October 1999 at about 15:13 local time, a Air Tractor AT-301 registered N23930 was involved in an accident near Olton, 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

14 October 1999 at 15:13

Classification

Accident

Location

Olton, Texas, United States

Coordinates

34.1697, -102.1303

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-301

Registration

N23930

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Littlefield → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW00LA012

1 person had minor injuries.

The inflight separation of the propeller blade due to damage from a wire strike. 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

During an aerial application flight, one of the propeller blades of the agricultural airplane separated approximately midspan. The airplane began to shake violently, and the pilot executed a forced landing in a field. During the landing roll, the pilot applied the brakes to avoid colliding with an irrigation pipe, and the airplane nosed over and came to rest in the inverted position. Examination of the propeller, by an FAA inspector, revealed that it appeared to be damaged due to a wire strike. However, there were no broken high wires found in the immediate area of the accident site, and the pilot did not recall striking any wires. It could not be determined whether the damage had occurred just prior to the blade failure or if the blade had been damaged and not properly repaired prior to the flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.