Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mid Valley Dusters Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Alamo, Texas 78516
Tuesady, January 14, 2003 14:45 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During an aerial application flight, while the aircraft was in the process of executing a turn to reverse direction, the airplane stalled and impacted the ground in a nose low attitude. The evidence found at the accident site where consistent with an airplane impacting the ground in a nose low attitude, at a relatively slow airspeed. The main wreckage came to rest in an open field in an upright position, approximately 75-feet from the initial point of impact. The radial engine was found separated from the airframe. The two-bladed propeller assembly remained attached to the engine crankshaft. Both fuel cells were compromised during the accident sequence. An FAA inspector arrived at the accident site within an hour after the mishap and reported no evidence of fuel or fuel smell at the accident site. The memory card from the SATLOC system installed in the aircraft was recovered by the FAA inspector for further evaluation. The memory card was analyzed and found not to have any information pertaining to the accident flight. Several attempts were made by the FAA inspector, as well as the NTSB Investigator-in-Charge to interview the 16,600-hour pilot after his release from the hospital after the accident. The pilot reported that he did not have any recollection of the accident or the circumstances prior to the mishap.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in a stall. Low altitude flight is a contributing factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/14/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1445 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Alamo |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78516 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 260911N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0980810W |
| Event Location Airport | Mid Valley Dusters |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 43TX |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 150 |
| Airport Elevation | 75 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 93 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MFE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 75 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.34 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 413 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14264 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA, San Antonio, TX. |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 14 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1645 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2003 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Antonio, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1537R |
| NTSB Number | FTW03LA084 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | -- |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Air Tractor |
| Aircraft Model | AT-401 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 401-0858 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 30 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 224 |
| Airframe Hours | 5118 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Moad Aviation, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 1758 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Weslaco |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78599 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | T65 |
| Departure City | Weslaco |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering - aerial application |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 4 2003 2:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 120 |
| Runway Length | 1925 |
| Runway Width | 90 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |