Air Tractor AT-502 N198LA

Summary

On 7 February 2013 at about 22:00 local time, a Air Tractor AT-502 registered N198LA, operated by South Delta Aviation Inc, was involved in an accident near Forrest City, Arkansas, 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

7 February 2013 at 22:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Forrest City, Arkansas, United States

Coordinates

34.9464, -90.7744

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-502

Registration

N198LA

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

South Delta Aviation Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Forrest CIty → Forrest CIty

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN13LA168

1 person had minor injuries.

The in-flight separation of the left aileron's push-pull rod and hardware. Contributing to the accident was the failure of maintenance personnel to apply proper torque to the self-locking nuts.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After making an agricultural application, the pilot made a climbing left turn; the airplane then began vibrating and shaking. The pilot was able to return the airplane to level flight, but it rocked left and right, with the left aileron going up and down from stop to stop. The pilot chose to perform an emergency landing in a field next to an airport. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the two aileron push-pull rod bolts were missing. The bolts and associated hardware were not located among the wreckage. The airplane had undergone extensive maintenance about 5 months before the accident. A review of the airplane's maintenance manual revealed that the nuts installed in the airplane control system are self-locking nuts, which can loosen if insufficient torque is applied to them. It is likely that maintenance personnel applied improper torque to the aileron's push-pull rod self-locking nuts, which resulted in the eventual loosening of the nuts and the separation of the left aileron's push-pull rod and hardware.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.