Air Tractor AT-301 N3170C

Summary

On 15 January 2009 at about 15:45 local time, a Air Tractor AT-301 registered N3170C was involved in an accident near Beaver, Utah, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 January 2009 at 15:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Beaver, Utah, United States

Coordinates

38.1922, -112.5056

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-301

Registration

N3170C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Beaver → Beaver

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR09LA085

1 person had minor injuries.

A loss of engine power while maneuvering due to a sheared propeller blade's pitch change link. Contributing to the accident was lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While maneuvering during an aerial application flight, the pilot noted that the engine began to vibrate and lose power. During the forced landing, the airplane nosed over on the snow-covered terrain. The airplane was recovered from the accident site and examined. No internal engine components were found to have malfunctioned. One of the propeller blade's pitch change pins was observed sheared.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.