Air Tractor AT-602 N115AA

Summary

On 14 June 2024 at about 12:00 local time, a Air Tractor AT-602 registered N115AA, operated by McCallister Aviation Rentals & Sales LLC, was involved in an accident near Broseley, Missouri, 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

14 June 2024 at 12:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Broseley, Missouri, United States

Coordinates

36.6868, -90.1953

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-602

Registration

N115AA

Category

Airplane

Year built

2011

Engines

1

Operator

McCallister Aviation Rentals & Sales LLC

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Broseley → Broseley

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN24FA220

1 person died.

The pilot’s inflight loss of airplane control for reasons that could not be determined.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The operator reported that the pilot departed to apply fertilizer to a field about 4 miles north of the airstrip. An individual about 2 miles from the accident site reported hearing what he believed was the accident airplane for a total of about 15 minutes. The pilot seemed to be flying in the vicinity of the accident site, and for most of that time the sound of the engine seemed normal. However, toward the end of that time the pitch of the engine increased slightly for about 3 or 4 seconds before the sound then completely faded away. He did not hear the airplane again nor did he hear the impact. The flight was reported overdue about 90 minutes after takeoff when the pilot had not returned. A search subsequently located the accident site about 3 miles from the departure airstrip: the airplane impacted a wooded area adjacent to a soybean field and a postimpact fire ensued. There were no power lines, towers, or guy wires observed in the immediate vicinity of the accident site. The owner of the field reported that the pilot was scheduled to apply fertilizer to three of his fields that day. A visual examination of the field that morning by the farmer’s employees found that the pilot likely made one application pass on the field. No evidence of multiple application passes was observed. Multiple tree propeller cuts and tree breaks were present in the immediate vicinity of the wreckage. Detailed airframe, engine, and propeller examinations did not reveal any anomalies associated with a preimpact failure or malfunction, including an inflight structural failure or flight control system anomaly. The examinations determined that the engine was operating and the propeller blades were rotating under power at the time of impact. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. There was nothing in the results of the autopsy or toxicology to suggest pilot impairment or incapacitation. Because no airplane position data for the accident flight was available, an airplane performance analysis could not be conducted. The confined area of the wreckage and the limited tree damage outside of the immediate vicinity of the accident site suggested a high angle of descent such as found following an inadvertent aerodynamic stall. However, without any additional data, the reason for the pilot’s inflight loss of control could not be determined.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.