Air Tractor AT-400 N23720

Summary

On 31 July 2006 at about 18:45 local time, a Air Tractor AT-400 registered N23720, operated by Dlux Spray Service, was involved in an accident near Springfield, Minnesota, 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

31 July 2006 at 18:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Springfield, Minnesota, United States

Coordinates

44.2144, -94.9992

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-400

Registration

N23720

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Dlux Spray Service

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Canby → Springfield

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI06CA221

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inability to maintain directional control of the airplane as a result of the partial failure of the tail wheel assembly. A factor associated with the accident was the crop that the airplane contacted.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane ground looped following a failure of one of the tail wheel bolts. The pilot reported that he was landing at a private grass airstrip when the accident occurred. He reported that upon landing the tail wheel broke and the airplane ground looped. Inspection of the airplane revealed that it traveled into a bean field during the ground loop and that the bottom bolt on the tail wheel assembly fractured which resulted in a loss of directional control.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.