Air Tractor AT502 N502RL

Summary

On 18 August 2018 at about 21:27 local time, a Air Tractor AT502 registered N502RL, operated by Lutes Flying Service Inc, was involved in an accident near Bronson, Michigan, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 August 2018 at 21:27

Classification

Accident

Location

Bronson, Michigan, United States

Coordinates

41.8431, -85.1192

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT502

Registration

N502RL

Category

Airplane

Year built

2012

Engines

1

Operator

Lutes Flying Service Inc

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Shipshewana → Shipshewana

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN18FA339

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering, which resulted in exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack, an aerodynamic stall, and loss of control at an altitude too low for recovery.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was conducting an agricultural application flight in the turboprop-equipped airplane. Data from an onboard GPS unit showed that the airplane had completed 10 spray passes on a field, making right 180° turns after each pass to align the airplane for the subsequent pass. The airplane would climb between 500-700 ft during the first 90° of the turn, then descend during the second 90° of the turn. The airplane's groundspeed decayed to between 37 kts and 63 kts during the previous turns; however, the data did not capture the accident turn. A witness stated that he saw the airplane complete a spray pass, pull up into a near-vertical attitude, then become inverted. The airplane descended straight down and was starting to pull up when it hit the ground. The airplane impacted terrain in a wings-level, nose-low attitude. No preimpact anomalies of the airframe, engine, or propeller were found. Based on the available evidence, it is likely that the pilot failed to maintain sufficient airspeed during a turn following a spray pass, which resulted in exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack, an aerodynamic stall, and loss of airplane control at an altitude too low for recovery.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.