Air Tractor AT 502B N879JA

Summary

On 10 May 2015 at about 14:11 local time, a Air Tractor AT 502B registered N879JA, operated by Jordan Air, Inc., was involved in an accident near Dighton, Kansas, 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

10 May 2015 at 14:11

Classification

Accident

Location

Dighton, Kansas, United States

Nearest airport

Dighton Airport (K65)

Coordinates

38.4897, -100.4797

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT 502B

Registration

N879JA

Category

Airplane

Year built

2013

Engines

1

Operator

Jordan Air, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Dighton → Dodge City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN15LA226

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to follow the Preflight checklist and his inadequate preflight inspection, during which he failed to detect the water contamination of the fuel, which resulted in a partial loss of engine power during initial climb.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot stated that he did not observe any anomalies during his preflight inspection or during his before-takeoff engine run-up. The pilot was departing on a positioning flight when the engine lost partial power during initial climb. The pilot's corrective actions did not restore full engine power, so he made a forced landing to a nearby muddy field. The pilot reported that, after the accident, the engine continued to run with a gas generator speed of about 35% and that he cut fuel flow to the engine to shut it down. Postaccident engine examination revealed no evidence of a mechanical malfunction that would have precluded normal operation; however, an examination of the fuel system revealed water contamination in multiple tanks and filters. Laboratory testing showed that the observed water contamination exceeded the allowable limits for aviation turbine fuel. Given the amount of water contamination observed after the accident, it is likely the pilot did not adequately check the fuel condition at both wing fuel tanks, header fuel tank sump, and the fuel valve sump as required by the airplane flight manual's Preflight checklist.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.