Air Tractor AT-402A N623LA

Summary

On 24 April 2023 at about 14:00 local time, a Air Tractor AT-402A registered N623LA, operated by Pitts Aerial Services, was involved in an accident near Good Hope, Alabama, 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

24 April 2023 at 14:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Good Hope, Alabama, United States

Nearest airport

None (PVT)

Coordinates

34.0910, -86.8514

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-402A

Registration

N623LA

Category

Airplane

Year built

2000

Engines

1

Operator

Pitts Aerial Services

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cullman → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA23LA215

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s decision to land on a runway where there was insufficient clearance from obstructions (wheat crop) to operate safely.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of the agricultural airplane was landing on a private runway that was about 24 feet wide and surrounded by wheat crop. The pilot described that, during the landing, the airplane was closer to the edge of the runway than he thought, and the airplane’s right spray boom caught on the wheat after touchdown. The airplane subsequently veered off the runway and into the wheat field, resulting in substantial damage to the airplane’s empennage and left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that he should have checked the runway conditions before landing and considered the possible impact of the growing wheat on his operation from the runway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.