Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Farwell, Texas 79325
Friday, September 12, 2003 9:00 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While maneuvering during an aerial application flight, the airplane pitched up into a nose high "almost vertical" attitude, stalled, and impacted the terrain. A witness stated, "the airplane was executing maneuvers like that of an air show, when the pilot pulls [the airplane] straight up and comes straight down." No anomalies were noted with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation prior to impact.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering which resulted in an inadvertent stall.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/12/2003
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 900
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Farwell
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 79325
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 342551N
Event Location Longitude 1030445W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 15
Degrees magnetic from airport 60
Airport Elevation 4295
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 915 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID CVN
Elevation of weather observation facility 4216
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions --
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) 15
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 290
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.11
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 15154
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Sep 12 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1000
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 30 2004 8:14AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Lubbock, Texas

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N61353
NTSB Number FTW03LA223
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 137: Agricultural
Type of Flight Plan filed Company VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Air Tractor
Aircraft Model AT-502B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 502B-0366
Certified Max Gross Weight 9700
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 --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 4500
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Tate Spraying Service, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3620 N. Prince St. Ste. D
Aircraft Owner City Clovis
Aircraft Owner State NM
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 88101
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 --
Departure City Clovis
Departure State NM
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 745
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 Maneuvering - aerial application
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jan 31 2004 1:02PM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --