Winner Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Winner, South Dakota 57580
Tuesady, June 10, 2014 20:41 CDT

On June 10, 2014, about 2041 central daylight time, an Air Tractor model AT-301 airplane, N8564S, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during takeoff at the Winner Regional Airport (ICR), Winner, South Dakota. The commercial pilot was not injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by Semper Fi Aviation LLC under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 without a flight plan. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local aerial application flight. The pilot reported that the aerial-application airplane weighed about 7,400 pounds after being loaded with 200 gallons of insecticide and 90 gallons of 100-low lead aviation fuel. The accident occurred during takeoff from runway 31 (4,500 feet by 75 feet, concrete). The pilot stated that the takeoff was uneventful until shortly after liftoff, about halfway down the runway, at an altitude of 3-4 feet above the runway, when he heard a "loud bang" and the airplane began to yaw to the left. The airplane descended and bounced on the runway. The pilot said that he increased aircraft pitch in an attempt to gain altitude, but the airplane encountered an aerodynamic stall. As he attempted to dump the load of insecticide, the airplane nosed over and impacted the terrain alongside the runway. A postaccident examination was completed by an inspector with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) before the airplane had been recovered from the accident site. Examination of the runway surface revealed a skid mark starting about 1,000 feet from the runway end. The skid mark exhibited a wavy pattern that was consistent with the width of a main landing gear tire. The wavy tire marking continued about 30 feet until it departed the left runway edge. A second tire tread marking, located about 10 feet right of the wavy tire marking, began about 10 feet from the left edge of the runway. There were several propeller slash markings observed in the turf between where the airplane had departed the left side of the runway and the location of the main wreckage. The main wreckage was located about 100 feet left of the runway edge and about 750 feet from the end of the runway. The airplane came to rest inverted and was facing southeast. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, wings, empennage, and firewall. The engine had separated from the fuselage. The propeller remained attached to the engine crankshaft. At 2053, the ICR weather observing system reported: wind 130 degrees at 8 knots, 10 miles visibility, clear sky conditions, temperature 21 degrees Celsius, dew point 13 degrees Celsius, and an altimeter setting of 29.77 inches-of-mercury. A review of recorded wind data revealed that there was a southeasterly wind of 8-13 knots during the 3 hour period before the accident and during the hour following the accident.

Not Yet Reported