Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Private Airstrip - Batchelor Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Batchelor, Louisiana 70715
Friday, April 18, 2003 17:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the short field takeoff, the airplane accelerated down the dirt runway and became airborne in ground effect. Passing off the end of the runway, the pilot stated he "could tell that the wheels were [dragging] in the wheat" and thought the airplane could "fly out of it in ground effect." The pilot attempted to dump the chemical load, but pulled the spray handle instead of the emergency hopper dump lever. Subsequently, the right wingtip contacted the ground, the airplane cartwheeled and came to rest inverted. The density altitude was calculated as 1728 feet based on the outside air temperature of 20 degrees Celsius, a dew point of 16 degrees Celsius, and an altimeter setting of 29.91 inches of mercury.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to abort the takeoff with adequate runway available. A contributing factor was the high density altitude.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/18/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1730 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Batchelor |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 70715 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 305000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0914000W |
| Event Location Airport | Private Airstrip - Batchelor |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 46 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| 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) | 29.91 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13772 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 21 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 26 2003 8:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Baton Rouge, LA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N36531 |
| NTSB Number | FTW03LA136 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Air Tractor |
| Aircraft Model | AT-301 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 301-0277 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6800 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 6 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 63 |
| Airframe Hours | 7776 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ag Aerial Service, LLC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 70 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Batchelor |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70715 |
| 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 | J70G |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Bachelor |
| Departure State | LA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 9 2003 5:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23 |
| Runway Length | 2000 |
| Runway Width | 30 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |