Air Tractor AT-401B N5081W

Summary

On 1 September 2021 at about 13:32 local time, a Air Tractor AT-401B registered N5081W, operated by Barts Flying Service Inc, was involved in an accident near Storm Lake, 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

1 September 2021 at 13:32

Classification

Accident

Location

Storm Lake, Iowa, United States

Nearest airport

Storm Lake Municipal Airport (SLB)

Coordinates

42.6430, -95.2019

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-401B

Registration

N5081W

Category

Airplane

Year built

1996

Engines

1

Operator

Barts Flying Service Inc

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN21LA393

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed during a landing approach with a tailwind that resulted in a landing overrun and impact with terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot reported that he was attempting to land on dew-covered grass runway following an aerial application flight when the airplane overran the runway and nosed over coming to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the rudder and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. At the time of the accident the airplane was landing on runway 31 with wind 110o at 4 knots. The pilot reported that the accident was the result of the airplane being too fast during the final approach with a tailwind and the dew-covered runway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.