Air Tractor AT-302 N3650B

Summary

On 9 May 2013 at about 00:30 local time, a Air Tractor AT-302 registered N3650B, operated by Airborn AG Services, was involved in an accident near Winnie, 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

9 May 2013 at 00:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Winnie, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Chambers County-Winnie Stowell (T90)

Coordinates

29.8189, -94.4311

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-302

Registration

N3650B

Category

Airplane

Year built

1979

Operator

Airborn AG Services

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Slidell → Anahuac

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN13LA283

Nobody was injured.

The improper decision by the pilot to attempt a flight with a known fuel system-related maintenance discrepancy, which resulted in a fuel imbalance and subsequent fuel starvation during an approach to an alternate airport with a rough field. Contributing to the accident were the manufacturer's failure to incorporate a warning on AT-302 airplanes and to add a warning about this issue in the AT-302 flight manual.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that, on previous flights, he noticed that the cockpit fuel quantity gauge indicated greater fuel consumption from the left fuel tank than the right fuel tank. However, during the accident flight, the fuel quantity gauge indicated greater fuel consumption from the right fuel tank than the left fuel tank. The airplane was not equipped with a fuel tank selector switch. Due to his concern about the fuel quantity imbalance, the pilot decided to land at an alternate airport. However, the engine experienced a total loss of power while the pilot was banking the airplane for landing, so he chose to land the airplane on a rough field. The airplane's left wing struck the ground, and the left main landing gear broke off. Postaccident examination of the airplane found no usable fuel in the right wing fuel tank and about 22.9 gallons of fuel in the left wing fuel tank. No contamination was found within the fuel supply. The airplane manufacturer issued Service Letters Nos. 178 and 178A in 1999 and reissued them in 2002, 2004, and 2009, to advise operators that a fuel imbalance could occur and lead to fuel starvation. A warning placard was never incorporated on AT-302 airplanes, only on later models, and no warning about this issue was added to the AT-302 flight manual.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.