Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Princeton, California 95970
Friday, June 13, 2014 11:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On June 13, 2014, about 1100 Pacific daylight time, an Air Tractor AT-502B, N502JS, was substantially damaged during takeoff from a dirt airstrip near Princeton, California, following a partial loss of engine power. The airplane was registered to a private individual and operated by Michaud Aviation, Willows, California, under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137. The commercial pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local aerial application flight which was originating at the time of the accident.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), the pilot reported that he had loaded about 3,000 pounds of fertilizer in the hopper prior to departure. During takeoff to the north from a dirt airstrip, the airplane ascended to about 10 feet above ground level (agl) when he initiated a left turn to a westerly heading. During the turn at an altitude of about 15 feet agl, the airplane began to settle towards the ground. The pilot stated that he advanced the throttle forward and observed the engine torque decrease. Subsequently, the airplane impacted the ground and came to rest upright.
Post-accident examination of the airplane by local law enforcement revealed that the fuselage was displaced to the right forward of the vertical stabilizer and the right aileron was partially separated. The airplane was recovered to a secure location for further examination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/13/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1100 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Princeton |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95970 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 392335N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1220208W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1753 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 73 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KOVE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 192 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KOVE 131753Z AUTO VRB04KT 10SM CLR 23/07 A29 |
| 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 | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 18 2014 4:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | cawj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N502JS |
| NTSB Number | WPR14LA245 |
| 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 502B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 502B-0248 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MICHAUD KELLY M DBA |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILLOWS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 959882041 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Michaud Aviation |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | WILLOWS |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 959882041 |
| 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 | Princeton |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Princeton |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 20 2014 1:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | eckd |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |