Air Tractor AT-502 N1014D

Summary

On 28 April 2006 at about 20:30 local time, a Air Tractor AT-502 registered N1014D was involved in an accident near Monroeville, Alabama, 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

28 April 2006 at 20:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Monroeville, Alabama, United States

Nearest airport

Private Grass Strip

Coordinates

31.4633, -87.3517

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-502

Registration

N1014D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Monroeville → Monroeville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL06LA072

Nobody was injured.

Partial loss of engine power for undetermined reasons, which resulted in a forced landing and subsequent nose over.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, he was climbing the airplane to 500 feet above ground level and heading to a field 10 miles northeast of the private airstrip. During the climb, the airplane was almost at the intended altitude when the pilot noticed that the internal turbine temperature on the engine was rising and started to lose engine power. The pilot made a forced landing into a soft field and the airplane nosed over. There was a post-impact fire around the engine compartment. Examination of the engine found the power turbine blades fractured with some axial movement noted. Circumferential rub marks were noted on the aft side of the blade roots and disk fir tree slots. The compressor screen was removed and no dents were noted, and all first stage blades were observed intact and rotated freely. No foreign object damage was noted. The engine was split at the "C" flange and some compressor turbine blades were observed fractured at mid-span with trailing edge deformation. No discrepancies were observed in the P3 system. The fuel control unit was impact damaged. The teardown inspection indicated that the engine was operating at the time of impact. Examination did not reveal evidence of uncontainment, case rupture, pre-impact malfunction, or in-flight fire.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.