Air Tractor AT-602 N583LA

Summary

On 23 May 2013 at about 23:15 local time, a Air Tractor AT-602 registered N583LA, operated by Red River Agviation Inc, was involved in an accident near Longview, Texas, 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

23 May 2013 at 23:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Longview, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

East Texas Rgnl (GGG)

Coordinates

32.5339, -94.7114

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-602

Registration

N583LA

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Red River Agviation Inc

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Trinity → Longview

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN13LA293

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper fuel management, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's inadequate preflight planning, which precluded him from locating his intended destination and led to fuel exhaustion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot planned to spray a field and then refuel. After spraying the field, the pilot circled for about 15 minutes looking for his intended airport, but he could not locate it. He spotted another airport about 5 miles south of his location and headed in that direction. As he approached to land, he noticed the airport had a control tower. He stated that, because he did not have the capability to radio the tower for a request to land, he aborted the approach, crossed the midfield, and rocked the airplane's wing in an attempt to receive a green light from the control tower signaling approval to land. After not receiving the green light, he made a right turn away from the airport, at which point, the engine experienced a total loss of power. The pilot made an emergency landing in a field about 1 mile southeast of the airport. After the accident, he reported that he had exhausted the airplane's fuel supply. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of usable fuel in the fuel tanks or the vicinity of the accident site and no evidence of preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.