Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hessmer, Louisiana 71350
Monday, May 5, 2014 9:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On May 5, 2014, about 0900 central daylight time, N7309Z, an Air Tractor 301, was substantially damaged when it made a forced landing to a rice levee in Hessmer, Louisiana, after a loss of engine power. The commercial pilot was not injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by Pro-Air, LLC, Hamburg, Louisiana. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed an no flight plan was filed for the local, aerial spraying flight conducted under 14 Federal Aviation Regulations Part 137. The airplane departed about 0853 from a private airstrip located in Hessmer, Louisiana.
The pilot stated that the radial engine lost power (he suspected the blower had failed) as he approached a rice field that he was going to spray and he made a forced landing on a levee. The main landing gear hit a soft spot during the landing and the airplane veered off the road into the field and flipped inverted resulting in substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer and left wing. According to a representative of the airplane recovery company, the three-bladed propeller sustained damage to two of the blades. The engine mounts and firewall were not damaged and there was no obvious damage to the engine. The blower was no accessible to examine. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) maintenance inspector reviewed the airplane's maintenance logbooks and found no discrepancies. The insurance company totaled the airplane and no further examination of the engine was performed and the loss of power was undetermined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/5/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 900 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Hessmer |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 71350 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 310317N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0920716W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| 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 | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | BTR FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 4 2014 4:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | yeal |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7309Z |
| NTSB Number | CEN14LA229 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AIR TRACTOR INC |
| Aircraft Model | AT 301 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NO SERIES |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 301-0645 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| 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 | Dec 1 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 7760 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PRO-AIR LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | HAMBURG |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 713390600 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | PRO-AIR LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | HAMBURG |
| Operator State | LA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 713390600 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | Hessmer |
| 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 | Hessmer |
| Destination State | LA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 4 2014 4:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | yeal |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |