History of Flight
On August 8, 2023, about 1150 central daylight time, an Air Tractor AT-802, registration N804AA, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Gilman City, Missouri. The pilot was fatally injured. The flight was conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 as an aerial application flight.
A witness driving south on State Highway K near the water tower first observed the airplane flying above him near the intersection of Highways K and B. The airplane appeared to fly south, then turned east, and back to the north. Just before the witness turned right onto Highway B, the airplane began to turn "pretty aggressively." As he drove west on the highway, he saw the airplane "flipped and tumbled to the ground." Upon arriving at the airplane in the field, it was sitting at a downward angle toward the nose with heavy smoke and fire near the front. The witness did not observe any smoke or fire before impact and did not recall hearing the engine at any point.
Another witness driving south on Highway K adjacent to the accident site saw the airplane "flip sideways" and was unsure whether it was a crop duster or an airplane performing aerobatics. She could not see the ground impact but observed smoke and shortly thereafter the airplane burning. She did not hear any engine noise from inside her vehicle. Her daughter, also in the vehicle, reported seeing the airplane rapidly spinning like a corkscrew toward the ground.
According to the airplane owner and operator, the pilot was spreading fertilizer on a nearby bean field. The accident site was about 0.5 nautical miles east of the target field.
Personnel Information
On November 30, 2022, the pilot received a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) second class medical certificate. On the medical application, the pilot reported 450 total flight hours and 150 hours in the last 6 months. The pilot's logbooks were not made available during the investigation.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The airplane impacted a bean field and came to rest upright, with all major airplane components identified at the accident site. A postimpact fire consumed a majority of the fuselage, hopper, and the inboard portion of the right wing. The empennage, left wing, and engine compartment sustained some fire damage and were relatively intact. The propeller and engine were partially embedded in the ground but remained attached to the engine mounts. All five propeller blades remained attached to the propeller hub and were found bent and twisted. A strong smell of Jet-A fuel was present. The airplane was equipped with five-point AmSafe inflatable restraints (airbags). The harness webbing was consumed by fire; the five-point buckle was found fully latched. The airbag inflators were fire damaged.
The propeller blades exhibited compound bend and twist progression from forward to aft in the sequence of rotation. The propeller and engine components showed signs of rotation at impact. Examination of the airplane and engine did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
The onboard SATLOC GPS and the compact flash card's internal components sustained significant fire damage. The National Transportation Safety Board Vehicle Recorder's Laboratory was unable to recover any data from the compact flash card.
Medical and Pathological Information
An autopsy of the pilot performed by the Office of the Jackson County Medical Examiner, Kansas City, Missouri, listed the cause of death as "multiple blunt traumatic injuries and thermal burn injuries." Toxicology testing performed at the FAA Forensic Sciences Laboratory found no drugs of abuse.