Introduction
On August 4, 2021, at approximately 1520 central daylight time, an Air Tractor AT-602, registration N455LA, was substantially damaged in an accident near Mer Rouge, Louisiana. The pilot sustained minor injuries. The aircraft was being operated as an aerial application flight under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137.
Accident Details
The accident occurred on the pilot's third aerial application flight of the day. Ground support personnel had loaded the aircraft with about 480 gallons of insecticide and fertilizer, and about 60 gallons of Jet A-1 fuel, bringing the total fuel load to about 160 gallons before takeoff. Shortly after rotation, the engine lost power. The pilot executed a forced landing to a field. During the landing, the aircraft impacted a soybean field and came to rest upright. Substantial damage was sustained to the fuselage and wings.
Post-Accident Findings
A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the aircraft and found the fuel system intact, but the wing fuel tanks did not appear to contain any fuel. No evidence of fuel was found at the accident site. The operator did not maintain a recordkeeping system for fuel distribution at the refueling location. According to airplane recovery personnel, the chemical hopper had a puncture hole that leaked into one of the fuel tanks. During recovery, about 7 to 8 gallons of a fuel/chemical mixture was drained from the fuel tanks. There was no evidence of the approximately 160 gallons of fuel originally loaded at the accident site or remaining in the aircraft's fuel tanks.