Air Tractor AT-301 N23667

Summary

On 20 June 2007 at about 13:00 local time, a Air Tractor AT-301 registered N23667 was involved in an accident near Fergus Falls, Minnesota, 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

20 June 2007 at 13:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Fergus Falls, Minnesota, United States

Nearest airport

Fergus Falls Muni-Einar Mickel (FFM)

Coordinates

46.2794, -96.0593

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-301

Registration

N23667

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fergus Falls → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI07LA173

1 person had minor injuries.

The propeller blade failure during climb due to a fatigue crack. The oil leak that obstructed the pilot's vision was a factor in the accident.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The agricultural spray airplane sustained substantial damage during a forced landing following a severe engine vibration during cruise flight. The pilot reported that he was in cruise flight about 500 feet above ground level (agl) when the engine and airframe started to vibrate violently, and the windshield became covered with oil. He made a forced landing to a field, but the main landing gear broke off and the airplane flipped over. Inspection of the airplane revealed that one of the propeller blades was missing about 9 inches of the propeller blade tip. The propeller blade was cut and the piece with the fracture surface was sent to the National Transportation Safety Board's Materials Laboratory for examination. The inspection of the fracture surface revealed that the propeller bladed failed as a result of a fatigue crack, with features typical of impact of a rotating propeller blade with a foreign object. Aircraft maintenance records indicated that the propeller blade was repaired and overhauled on October 21, 2003. The overhaul documents indicated that the no discrepancies were found when the propeller blades and hub underwent visual and non-destructive testing. The aircraft operator reported that he had purchased the propeller blade from another operator as a "0" time blade since major overhaul. Since installing the propeller on the accident airplane, it had been flown for about 30 hours. The operator reported that the accident airplane did not have a propeller strike during the 30 hours of operation prior to the accident flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.