Air Tractor AT-502 N407CT

Summary

On 1 August 2022 at about 11:45 local time, a Air Tractor AT-502 registered N407CT, operated by Crosswind Aviation LLC, was involved in an accident near Washington, Louisiana, 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 August 2022 at 11:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Washington, Louisiana, United States

Nearest airport

Yankee Field Airport (17LS)

Coordinates

30.6163, -92.0571

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-502

Registration

N407CT

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Crosswind Aviation LLC

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Port Barre → Port Barre

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN22LA352

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from a wire during an aerial application of a field.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that on the first aerial application flight of the day, he saw a wire on the edge of the field to be sprayed and decided that he could fly under the wire to perform the spray pass. During the pass, the airplane’s rudder struck the wire and tore the rudder off. The airplane returned to the departure airport and during landing, lost directional control due to missing rudder and ground looped. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the rudder from the wire strike and to the fuselage during the ground loop. The pilot reported that there was no preaccident failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.