Air Tractor AT-602 N51037

Summary

On 9 April 2012 at about 18:30 local time, a Air Tractor AT-602 registered N51037, operated by Boyle Flying Service Inc, was involved in an accident near Ruleville, Mississippi, 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

9 April 2012 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Ruleville, Mississippi, United States

Coordinates

33.5758, -90.5514

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-602

Registration

N51037

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Boyle Flying Service Inc

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Boyle → Boyle

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA12CA275

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate preflight planning and in-flight fuel management, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed on an aerial application flight with an estimated 53 gallons of fuel. He had not reset the fuel totalizer before departure. He made numerous passes over a 100-acre field spraying fertilizer during the 30 minute flight. After his last pass, the pilot noticed a fuel flow fluctuation. The engine subsequently lost power at an altitude of 75 to 100 feet above the ground, and the pilot made a forced landing. He pulled the airplane off the ground again briefly to clear an obstruction; however, when the airplane touched down again, the left main landing gear sank into soft ground and sheared off. The airplane rotated to the right onto its nose, and the left wing sustained structural damage. Postaccident examination revealed that the left and right main fuel caps had a tight seal and there was no evidence of streaking or venting of fuel on the airplane or on the ground. The left, right, header, and purge fuel tanks were drained and yielded about 34 total ounces of fuel—two ounces from the right fuel tank and 32 ounces from the header tank. The left and purge tanks contained no fuel. No preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures were found that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.