Air Tractor AT-401 accident near Panhandle, TX
On July 18, 2000, an Air Tractor AT-401 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Panhandle, TX. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- July 18, 2000
- Place
- Panhandle, TX
- Aircraft
- Air Tractor AT-401 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 35.341°N, 101.380°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001212X21467
NTSB summary
On July 17, 2000, at 1945 central daylight time, an Air Tractor AT-401 agricultural airplane, N6055W, was destroyed when it impacted terrain while maneuvering near Panhandle, Texas. The airplane was registered to and operated by Stamps Spraying Service, Inc., of Panhandle, Texas. The commercial pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, sustained fatal injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 137 aerial application flight. The local flight originated from the operator's private grass airstrip. According to the operator, the airplane was fueled, loaded with an herbicide chemical, and departed to spray a field. When the pilot arrived at the field, he radioed back to the operator and stated that he was worried about chemical drift due to the wind speed and direction. A few minutes later, the pilot radioed the operator again and stated that he would commence spraying the field. According to witnesses, the airplane was spraying chemical prior to the accident. One witness reported that the airplane was making a climbing turn and then nose dived into the ground. Another witness stated that he observed the airplane make one pass, initiate a "pull-up," and enter a right bank. He added that the airplane "did not pull out of the right bank and nose dived into the ground." According to the FAA inspector and a representative from Air Tractor Inc., who examined the airplane at the site, the airplane came to rest at North 034 degrees 00.000 minutes latitude and West 068 degrees 54.375 minutes longitud
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed, which resulted in a stall.
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Browse: Texas · Air Tractor aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
