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| Date: | Thursday 11 July 2024 |
| Time: | 14:07 |
| Type: |  Air Tractor AT-502B |
| Owner/operator: | McGinty Flying Service LLC |
| Registration: | N6177J |
| MSN: | 502B-0327 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1995 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Bonita, LA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Agricultural |
| Departure airport: | Bonita, LA |
| Bonita, LA | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
On July 11, 2024, about 1407 central daylight time, an Air Tractor AT-502B airplane, N6177J, and an Air Tractor AT-802A airplane, N795LA, were involved in a midair collision near Bonita, Louisiana. The Air Tractor AT-502B was destroyed, and the pilot was fatally injured. The Air Tractor AT-802A sustained minor damage, and the pilot was not injured. Both aircraft were operated as Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 aerial applications flights.
N795LA departed a company airstrip about 2 miles west of the collision location, and the planned flight was to provide aerial application to a field about 12 miles east of the airstrip. N6177J departed a company airstrip about 3 miles northeast of the collision location, and the planned flight was to provide aerial application to a field about 10 miles southwest of the airstrip.
According to the N795LA pilot, he departed the private airstrip and was traveling east about 200 ft above ground level. About 2 miles after departure, the pilot observed N6177J about 100 ft to his left at the same altitude. The pilot pulled back on the control stick to avoid N6177J. The pilot felt an impact and heard a bang, and he was able to control the airplane after the collision. The pilot circled the area, noticed N6177J had impacted the terrain, and observed a small ground fire. The pilot returned to the airstrip, and the airplane landed with the tail wheel landing gear missing from the airplane. During the collision, N795LA sustained minor damage to the tail wheel and fertilizer spreader, and N6177J was destroyed after it impacted trees and terrain.
A witness, who was the loader for N795LA and located at the company airstrip, stated that he observed N795LA takeoff from the airstrip and en route for the planned flight to the east. Above a distant tree line, he observed N6177J transitioning from the northeast to the southwest and then the collision between the two airplanes. He observed one airplane descend into the terrain and then saw smoke, then the one airplane continued in flight. Shortly thereafter, N795LA returned to the airstrip.
According to the operators of both airplanes, neither pilot provided radio communications during the aerial application flights.
Postaccident examination of N6177J and the accident site revealed the outboard 6 ft of the left wing was separated and came to rest in the wooded terrain. The separated wing structure exhibited a semi-circular impact and black rubber transfer marks, consistent with the size of N795LA’s main landing gear tire. N6177J’s left horizontal stabilizer, about midspan and mid-chord, was deflected upward and exhibited a witness mark and black rubber transfer mark, consistent with the size of N795LA’s tail wheel tire.
The underside of N795LA’s spreader exhibited yellow paint transfer marks and shards of paint and fiberglass, consistent with N6177J’s left wing tip. The tail wheel and fork were found in a rice field about 750 ft east of the collision location.
Postaccident examination of both airplanes revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Both airplanes were equipped with Satloc devices. N795LA’s Satloc data was extracted from the device, and N6177J’s Satloc control unit was retained for further examination and data extraction.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.knoe.com/2024/07/11/crop-duster-plane-crashes-morehouse-parish-one-dead/
NTSB
https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=N6177J
Location
Media:
NTSB is investigating the midair collision of an Air Tractor AT-502B and an Air Tractor AT-802 in Bonita, Louisiana.
— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) July 11, 2024
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Jul-2024 22:37 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 12-Jul-2024 00:19 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Embed code, Damage, Narrative, Category, ] |
| 12-Jul-2024 13:09 | RobertMB | Updated [Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Source, Embed code, Narrative, ] |
| 12-Jul-2024 17:41 | AgOps | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 13-Jul-2024 16:06 | gerard57 | Updated [Damage, ] |
| 19-Jul-2024 20:35 | Captain Adam | Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, Accident report, ] |
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