Air Tractor AT-502B N5003C

Summary

On 17 August 2009 at about 19:20 local time, a Air Tractor AT-502B registered N5003C, operated by Dennis Meyer, was involved in an accident near Whittemore, Iowa, 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

17 August 2009 at 19:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Whittemore, Iowa, United States

Nearest airport

Steier (PVT)

Coordinates

43.0625, -94.4231

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-502B

Registration

N5003C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Dennis Meyer

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Whittemore → Whittemore

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN09CA533

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's lack of preflight planning and remedial action with resulted in the airplane's inability to climb out of ground effect.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane settled onto the runway after becoming airborne during takeoff. The airplane became airborne a second time and this time it settled into a bean field off the end of the runway. The airplane then contacted a ditch and crossed a road prior to coming to rest in another bean field. The pilot stated the airplane was at or near gross weight, but he did not calculate the weight and balance. He stated the engine was running normal and he was confident the airplane was going to stay airborne which is why he did not dump the chemical load.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.