Air Tractor AT-402B N291DL
25 July 2023 · Clara City, Minnesota, United States · Fatal
Summary
On 25 July 2023 at about 12:11 local time, a Air Tractor AT-402B registered N291DL, operated by Northstar Aero Spray Inc, was involved in an accident near Clara City, Minnesota, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 12:11
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Clara City, Minnesota, United States
- Coordinates
- 45.0369, -95.4084
- Aircraft
- Air Tractor AT-402B
- Registration
- N291DL
- Category
- Airplane
- Year built
- 2008
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Northstar Aero Spray Inc
- Operating rule
- Part 137: Agricultural
- Purpose of flight
- Aerial Application
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Clara City → Clara City
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- CEN23LA324
People
1 person died.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from a transmission line during an aerial application flight.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
Airplane position data revealed that the pilot was performing agricultural application passes to a corn field at the time of the accident. During an approach to the northwest, in a pattern consistent with a clean-up pass, the empennage impacted the lowest transmission line on a set of power lines along the perimeter of the field. The collision separated the rudder and upper portion of the vertical stabilizer from the empennage, and the airplane subsequently impacted the corn field about 350 ft from the power lines. Postrecovery airframe and engine examinations did not reveal any anomalies consistent with a preimpact failure or malfunction, or of the engine to produce rated power. It is likely that the pilot was flying under the transmission lines at the end of the clean-up pass and did not maintain clearance which resulted in an impact between the empennage and the transmission line.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Air Tractor AT-402B accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Jul 2023 | Air Tractor AT-402B | Alta, Iowa, United States | Barts Flying Service Inc | No injuries | - |
| 15 Jul 2025 | Air Tractor AT-402B | Wyoming, Illinois, United States | Diversified Applications Inc. | Minor injuries | - |
| 24 Jun 2025 | Air Tractor AT-402B | Pierre, South Dakota, United States | MIke Ogan Farms | Serious injuries | - |
| 18 Jun 2021 | Air Tractor AT-402B | Kinston, North Carolina, United States | Eastern Flying Service Inc | Fatal | 1 |
| 5 Mar 2021 | Air Tractor AT-402B | Moorhead, Mississippi, United States | Inverness Air, INC | No injuries | - |
| 11 Oct 2017 | Air Tractor AT 402B | Brawley, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Feb 2023 | Cessna 172S | Princeton, Minnesota, United States | Twin Cities Flight Training, Inc | No injuries | - |
| 27 Jun 2023 | Schweizer G-164B | Beltrami, Minnesota, United States | Gasper Air Spray, Inc | Fatal | 1 |
| 11 May 2023 | Loehle Acft 5151 MUSTANG | Hector, Minnesota, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 17 Sep 2023 | Cessna 150K | South Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 30 Jun 2023 | Icon A5 | Onamia, Minnesota, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 12 Mar 2023 | Socata TB21 | Eden Prairie, Minnesota, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |