Accident Summary
On August 29, 2018, at approximately 1323 central daylight time, an Air Tractor AT-301 airplane, registration N3164K, was substantially damaged during a forced landing after the engine lost power. The accident occurred near Partridge, Kansas. The aircraft was operated by Ag Air Services Inc. under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 as an aerial application flight. The pilot was not injured. Day visual meteorological conditions were present, and the flight was not operated on a flight plan. The local flight had originated from Hutchison Regional Airport at about 1220.
Pilot Actions
According to the pilot, he had been flying for approximately one hour and was returning to the airport when the engine lost power at an altitude of about 1,000 ft above ground level (agl). The pilot reported that the engine briefly regained power twice—each time for about 3 seconds—when he operated the manual fuel pump. However, the airplane continued to lose altitude, so he stopped attempting to restart the engine and focused on executing a forced landing. He aimed for a road but could not align the airplane's flight path with the remaining altitude. The airplane aerodynamically stalled at about 20 ft agl, struck the road, and bounced, finally coming to rest in an adjacent agricultural field. The left wing sustained damage.
Post-Accident Examination
After the accident, the operator recovered the airplane and reported that 29 gallons of fuel were drained from it during recovery. A postrecovery engine examination conducted by Federal Aviation Administration inspectors found no anomalies consistent with a preaccident failure or malfunction. The engine-driven fuel pump was removed and tested; it operated normally when powered by an electric drill. The airframe fuel screens were intact and free of debris or sediment. The airplane was not equipped with an electric fuel pump; the only backup was the manual pump.