Air Tractor AT-402 N10119

Summary

On 13 August 2011 at about 15:30 local time, a Air Tractor AT-402 registered N10119, operated by L & W Flying Service, Inc., was involved in an accident near Uvalde, 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

13 August 2011 at 15:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Uvalde, Texas, United States

Coordinates

29.2067, -99.6150

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-402

Registration

N10119

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

L & W Flying Service, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Uvalde → Uvalde

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN11LA571

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering to avoid power lines during a precautionary landing, which resulted an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was the fluctuating engine power for undetermined reasons and the pilot's preoccupation with the malfunctioning global positioning system.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot said he had just completed spraying a field during the aerial application flight when he noted that the airplane's global positioning system (GPS) unit had malfunctioned. As he attempted to troubleshoot the problem, the airplane’s engine power began to fluctuate. The pilot decided to make a precautionary landing. He looked inside the cockpit at the GPS, and, when he looked back outside, he noticed a set of power lines crossing the road. He was able to avoid them, then saw a second set of power lines. As he maneuvered the airplane to avoid them, he inadvertently stalled the airplane. The airplane’s right wing dropped and struck the power lines. The airplane then spun around and impacted terrain in an inverted attitude. A postaccident examination could not determine the reason for the drop in engine power. No other anomalies with the airplane were found.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.