Air Tractor AT-502A N6176L

Summary

On 30 June 2007 at about 15:00 local time, a Air Tractor AT-502A registered N6176L, operated by Thiel Air Care, Inc., was involved in an accident near Chowchilla, California, 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

30 June 2007 at 15:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Chowchilla, California, United States

Coordinates

37.0167, -120.3550

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-502A

Registration

N6176L

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Thiel Air Care, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Chowchilla → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA07LA204

Nobody was injured.

The loss of engine power as the result of the fatigue fracture and separation of two compressor turbine blades, which induced a catastrophic failure of the compressor turbine section.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The engine lost power about 20 to 30 feet above ground level in the takeoff initial climb. The pilot landed in a pasture, with the airplane coming to rest upright after colliding with several fences. A post accident examination of the engine revealed that the engine failure was the result of the fatigue fracture and separation of two compressor turbine blades. Once liberated, the two blades impacted the other compressor turbine blades, which resulted in the airfoil portions of those remaining blades to fracture in overstress. The fatigue crack in one blade occupied about 40 percent of the fracture surface, while the fatigue crack in the second blade occupied about 60 percent of the fracture surface.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.