Air Tractor AT502 accident near Grant, NE
On July 25, 2020, an Air Tractor AT502 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Grant, NE. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- July 25, 2020
- Place
- Grant, NE
- Aircraft
- Air Tractor AT502 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 40.747°N, 101.710°W
- NTSB ID
- 20200725X60143
Official records · CEN20LA306
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn July 25, 2020, about 1136 mountain daylight time, an Air Tractor AT-502B airplane, N502KJ, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Grant, Nebraska. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 agricultural flight. According to data downloaded from the airplane’s Satloc GPS guidance system, at 1108, the flight departed Grant Municipal Airport (GGF), Grant, Nebraska, and proceeded south toward the field to be sprayed. After arriving over the field, the pilot completed several orbits of the field before he began spraying using a series of east/west flightpaths, as shown in figure 1. As the flight progressed, the airplane made a climbing left turn after each spray pass, the frequency of spray passes increased, the elapsed time between spray passes decreased, and the maximum altitude achieved between spray passes increased, as shown in figure 2. During the final 5 minutes of the flight, the airplane's groundspeed was 160-165 mph during each spray pass and 104-120 mph while in the turn between spray passes; the airplane routinely climbed 450-520 ft after each spray pass. At 1136:48, the final track point recorded the airplane in a climb on a west heading near the end of a spray pass at the northern edge of the field being sprayed. The final track point was about 1/4 mile northeast of the accident site. The airplane's final recorded groundspeed and estimated altitude above ground level were 152 mph and 136 ft, respectively. The Satloc GPS guidance system has a 6-second del
Probable cause
The pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack while maneuvering during an agricultural flight, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and a loss of control at too low of an altitude to recover. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s excessive climb technique between spray passes.
More accidents in NE
- Piper PA-32R-300, Oct 16, 1993
- Piper PA-31, Apr 14, 1986
- Raytheon Aircraft Company 58, Jan 11, 2013
- Cessna 210H, Jan 19, 1986
- Beech C35, Jun 17, 1984
Browse: Nebraska · 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.
