Air Tractor AT-401 N1008Q

Summary

On 12 May 2001 at about 15:30 local time, a Air Tractor AT-401 registered N1008Q was involved in an accident near Warsaw, Illinois, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 May 2001 at 15:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Warsaw, Illinois, United States

Coordinates

40.3491, -91.4196

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-401

Registration

N1008Q

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ferris → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI01LA135

Nobody was injured.

the rocker assembly failure during low level maneuvering. Factors were the soft and sandy terrain and the unsuitable terrain the pilot encountered during the forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane sustained substantial damage when the airplane nosed over during a forced landing following an in-flight loss of engine power. The pilot reported no injuries. The pilot stated, "At approximately 10:30 AM spraying operation was nearing completion when in a pull out of the field being sprayed the engine made a bang, started running very rough and backfiring. Within a couple seconds the engine had lost all power and died. The pilot landed in a field that happened to be very soft and sandy. The aircraft rolled approximately 100 ft on its wheels before nosing over on its back. After further investigation it was determined a rocker shaft housing had broken on the #4 cylinder. As a result the exhaust valve was not opening. As the intake valve opened, it created backfiring into the induction system causing the engine to fail."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.