Air Tractor AT-301 N3159M

Summary

On 24 June 1999 at about 12:30 local time, a Air Tractor AT-301 registered N3159M was involved in an accident near Veblen, South Dakota, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 June 1999 at 12:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Veblen, South Dakota, United States

Coordinates

45.8592, -97.2792

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-301

Registration

N3159M

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Britton → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI99LA193

1 person had minor injuries.

was the pilot not maintaining clearance from terrain. A factor was the pilot not performing a load jettison.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot said on his fourth spray pass, he encountered air that did not seem '...to have much lift to it' and he was adding power to climb the accident airplane above trees. He said he had applied full power as he got closer to the trees and the airplane started settling downward once over the tree line. He stated the airplane settled and contacted the ground. The engine was torn off the fuselage, along with the landing gear and tail wheel. The pilot stated the fuselage came to rest on a southeasterly direction. The pilot stated 'dumping the load' was his recommendation on how this accident could have been prevented.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.