Air Tractor Inc AT-802 accident near Greenwood, MS
On February 26, 2018, an Air Tractor Inc AT-802 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Greenwood, MS. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- February 26, 2018
- Place
- Greenwood, MS
- Aircraft
- Air Tractor Inc AT-802 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 33.507°N, 90.270°W
- NTSB ID
- 20180226X95618
Official records · ERA18FA088
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn February 26, 2018, about 1718 central standard time, an Air Tractor Inc. AT-802A, N581LA, was substantially damaged when it impacted trees and terrain near Greenwood, Mississippi. The commercial pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was owned by Ag Concepts Inc. and was being operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 aerial application flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and no flight plan was filed. The accident flight originated sometime after 1706 from the operator's airstrip located in Morgan City, Mississippi. According to the mixer/loader, the pilot was scheduled to conduct applications to two fields that day, each field requiring three loads of chemicals. Data downloaded from the onboard GPS receiver showed three flights and multiple spray passes to the first spray field, located about 3 nautical miles east-northeast from the operator's airstrip. The flights began at 1548 and ended at 1701 when the pilot returned to the operator's airstrip. The accident flight was not recorded. The loader indicated that, before the pilot departed on the accident flight, both fuel quantity gauges indicated 1/2 capacity. He stated that the pilot had not completed a survey of the application field before this flight, but he had previously sprayed the field "…hundreds of times." According to a witness about 1 nautical mile east-southeast of the accident site, while looking to the west through an opening in trees, he noticed an airplane making passes from east to west. He then heard what he described as two
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from a tree for reasons that could not be determined based on the available evidence.
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Browse: Mississippi · 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.
