Air Tractor AT-301 N3169R

Summary

On 26 July 2008 at about 11:00 local time, a Air Tractor AT-301 registered N3169R was involved in an accident near Ambia, Indiana, 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

26 July 2008 at 11:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Ambia, Indiana, United States

Coordinates

40.4842, -87.5022

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-301

Registration

N3169R

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Danville → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI08CA223

Nobody was injured.

The altitude/clearance not obtained/maintained by the pilot while maneuvering over an agricultural field during an aerial application. Contributing factors were the sunglare in the direction of flight, the low altitude of the operation, and the upslope of the field.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot approached and descended towards the west over power lines adjacent to the east/west corn field that he was going to spray. He noted that the sun was "kinda bright" and was a restriction to visibility. During the round out to level flight over the field, the pilot noticed that the airplane continued to sink and before he could release the spray handle and actuate the dump handle, the airplane impacted the field. The pilot "thinks" that his left hand went from the spray lever to the power lever to both hands on the control stick to try and keep the wings level to avoid the airplane from nosing over. The pilot stated that the field "appeared" to be flat but was later told that it had a "slight" rise.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.