Air Tractor AT-602 N602GB

Summary

On 3 October 1997 at about 21:00 local time, a Air Tractor AT-602 registered N602GB was involved in an accident near Plains, Texas, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 October 1997 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Plains, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Yoakum County (F98)

Coordinates

33.1904, -102.8199

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-602

Registration

N602GB

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW98LA006

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper decision to initiate takeoff with a vehicle on the runway.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During the initial takeoff climb, the agricultural airplane's left wing struck a pickup truck that was parked on the runway, and the airplane then impacted the ground. The runway was closed for resurfacing, but the pilot had received an 'ok' from the supervisor of the runway workcrew to use the runway. Although the pilot was aware of the position of the workcrew's pickup truck when he began his takeoff roll, he thought the truck was in the process of moving off the runway. The airplane had reached a speed of 70 mph when the pilot realized the pickup truck had not moved, and he attempted to avoid the collision, but was unable to do so.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.