Air Tractor AT802 N80166

Summary

On 14 July 2020 at about 23:55 local time, a Air Tractor AT802 registered N80166, operated by Aero Spray Inc, was involved in an accident near Birch Creek, Alaska, 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

14 July 2020 at 23:55

Classification

Accident

Location

Birch Creek, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

65.9910, -144.5447

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT802

Registration

N80166

Category

Airplane

Year built

2017

Engines

1

Operator

Aero Spray Inc

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Fire Fighting

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fairbanks → Fairbanks

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC20LA069

Nobody was injured.

A loss of control for undetermined reasons while on the surface of the water during scoop operations in support of wildland firefighting operations.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The mission-specific modified airplane was used to support wildland firefighting operations. It was equipped with amphibious floats that routed water through a dual scoop system to a hopper located in the airplane. The scoops could be manually deployed by a switch located on the control stick. According to the pilot, on the 28th scoop of the day, he touched down on the surface of the water and deployed the scoops to begin filling the airplane’s hopper when the airplane veered to the right. In an effort to correct for the veer, he released the scoop switch and applied left rudder to no avail. He retarded the throttle and applied reverse thrust as the airplane began to impact trees located on the lake’s shoreline. The airplane came to rest upright in a marshy area on the lake’s shoreline sustaining substantial damage to the right wing. A series of detailed examinations of the airplane, including its water scoop system, revealed no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operations.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.