Air Tractor AT-802A accident near Emmett, ID
On September 23, 2020, an Air Tractor AT-802A (airplane) was involved in an accident near Emmett, ID. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- September 23, 2020
- Place
- Emmett, ID
- Aircraft
- Air Tractor AT-802A · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 43.843°N, 116.412°W
- NTSB ID
- 20200922X35434
Official records · WPR20LA315
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Data Recording Devices - Specialist's Factual Report: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- Attachment 1 To Data Recording Devices - Specialist's Factual Report - Aera 660 Tabular Data: Document (CSV), on ntsb.gov
- Attachment 2 To Data Recording Devices - Specialist's Factual Report - Mvp 50t Tabular Data: Document (CSV), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn September 22, 2020, about 1830 mountain daylight time, an Air Tractor AT-802A, N836MM, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Emmett, Idaho. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a public aircraft for the purpose of firefighting. Witnesses conducting firefighting operations adjacent to the accident site reported that the accident airplane, a single engine air tanker (SEAT), descended and made an approach similar to the previous SEATs that were dropping fire retardant. The witnesses said the airplane passed over the top of the ridge and descended into the valley as seen in figure 1; however, the pilot did not drop the fire retardant as the previous SEATs had done. A witness stated he heard a brief application of engine power as the airplane began to ascend over rising terrain directly in front of the airplane’s flightpath. The airplane subsequently impacted rising terrain approximately 40 feet below the ridgeline. Figure 1: View of accident airplane descending below a ridge line. (Source: a screen capture from witness video) A video provided by a witness captured the accident sequence. The recording showed the airplane descend over an intermediate ridgeline and into a valley as seen in figure 2. About 3 seconds later, the airplane momentarily returned to level flight before it pitched upward to a nose-high attitude and impacted terrain. Figure 2: View of accident airplane descending into valley. (Source: a screen capture from a witness video) The supervisor of Air Tactical Group reported that, prior to the
Probable cause
The pilot’s descent below surrounding terrain and his delayed decision to initiate a climb which resulted in impact with terrain. Contributing to the accident were terrain and lighting conditions that affected the pilot’s ability to accurately assess terrain clearance.
More accidents in ID
- Boeing 737, Jan 9, 2021
- Cessna TU206, Jul 5, 2020
- Mitsubishi MU-2B-36, Jan 15, 1996
- Cessna T303, Mar 3, 1998
- Cessna TU-206-G, Jul 3, 1988
Browse: Idaho · 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.
