Accident Overview
On July 13, 2024, at 1527 central daylight time, an Air Tractor AT-802A, registration N2003Y, was substantially damaged in an accident near Cuba, Kentucky. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 aerial application flight. The airline transport pilot was fatally injured.
Before the accident flight, the airplane was loaded with agricultural chemicals and fueled at the owner's operating base in Murray, Kentucky, about 25 miles east of the accident site.
Flight Sequence
Aerial application data from the company's cloud-based service using the AgPilotX application showed the pilot's flight track. The pilot approached the property from the southeast and began spraying the western section of the field. The first pass was at 169 kts on a heading of 360°. After that, he made a climbing right turn and overflew the eastern side at 150 kts on a heading of about 180°. After the second application, he made a climbing right turn at 104 kts and then approached for another application on the western side at 146 kts. According to the operator, the first spray was partial, requiring a second pass. The owner stated the next pass would likely have been the center.
After the second application on the western side, the pilot made a right turn to about a 100° heading at 86 kts, then leveled out. The airplane remained on an easterly heading at a stable 90 kts, flew into mature corn, and impacted terrain in a flat, right-wing-low attitude. It continued forward along the ground, traveled over an embankment, skidded across a 2-lane asphalt road, impacted an irrigation ditch, skidded through a bean field, and came to rest upright.
The wreckage path was about 220 ft long on a 124° heading at an elevation of 528 ft. The lowest groundspeed during the flight was 86 kts, when the pilot appeared to be wings level after the final turn. According to the airplane flight manual, at a gross weight of 12,500 lbs, stall speeds with flaps up for bank angles of 0°, 15°, 30°, and 45° were 76 kts, 79 kts, 83 kts, and 92 kts, respectively.
Near the accident time, winds were light and variable with no gusts, so groundspeed would be indicative of airspeed. Weather reported few clouds at 4,600 ft. The sun was at an altitude of 54.97° with an azimuth of 255.05°, placing it high above and off the left side of the airplane, then behind the airplane during the final climbing turn.
Wreckage Examination
All sections and components were located in the immediate vicinity. A strong odor of jet fuel was present. Postaccident examination revealed chemical spray nozzles and plumbing at the initial impact site. The landing gear was sheared off, and scrapes and paint transfer marks were on the asphalt. Corn was cut from top to bottom at a 20° angle. An impact footprint in the shape of the fuselage and wings was seen in the flattened corn. At the start of the impact site, corn on the right side was cut several inches lower than on the left side.
The 5-blade metal propeller assembly separated at the reduction gear unit, found about 60 ft from the main wreckage. Blades exhibited chordwise/rotational abrasion and varying damage: two had wave bending throughout the span, three were bent uniformly aft mid-span about 80° to 90°. Four blades were at their pitch stops. No indication of feathering or high-power setting before impact. No evidence of wire strike.
The horizontal stabilizer and elevators separated, but the vertical stabilizer, rudder, ailerons, and wings remained attached. Flight control continuity was established through cockpit controls, pushrods, and cables.
The cockpit instrument panel was displaced aft and upward; floorboards and rudder pedals upward. The pilot's seat back remained attached, but the horizontal seat and frame were displaced downward. The 5-point harness airbags deployed. The flap control was up, throttle 2 inches above idle, propeller lever aft but forward of feathered, trim in takeoff position; however, emergency personnel had entered the cockpit for extraction.
Engine and Maintenance
The engine was displaced upward but remained attached. A borescope examination of the compressor turbine disk showed no anomalies. Combustion chamber and exit ducts were in good condition. Power turbine vanes and disc were undamaged. Soil debris was found ingested in the shroud bottom. The engine could be partially rotated. The engine separated at the hot section for further examination; the front would not rotate due to deeply impacted organic debris and fiberglass packed into the forward reduction gearbox teeth, but the gearbox appeared normal.
Fuel control unit and fuel pump were tested by the manufacturer, free of anomalies that would have contributed to loss of power, and bench tests yielded operating limitations not causing loss of pre-impact power. No pre-impact mechanical anomalies.
Maintenance records for 48 months showed the most recent airframe annual inspection on May 25, 2024, at 5,948.9 hours. All airworthiness directives were complied with. The most recent engine hot section inspection on December 5, 2023, at 5,837 hours; compressor turbine shroud segments and outer combustion liner with out-of-limits cracks and heat signatures were replaced. The most recent 100-hour power section inspection on August 30, 2023, at 5,760.1 hours was normal. No logbook entries suggested any failure or anomaly.
Pilot Toxicology
An autopsy by the Office of the State Medical Examiner, Commonwealth of Kentucky, Louisville, determined the pilot's cause of death as multiple blunt force injuries and manner of death as plane crash. Toxicology testing by the FAA's Forensic Services Laboratory on blood and vitreous fluid did not detect any impairing substance; it was negative for volatiles, carboxyhemoglobin, drugs of abuse, and elevated glucose levels.