Death Of An Air Tractor

[SICRedhawk]

R.I.P. PT6!!

[AFewGoodPuppets]

Well we gets $4 a feelds here in SC and that be a tobacca feeld. Ifs we sprays a cottons feelds whoa doggies thats be $6 a feelds bigs monies. I us a glide pain it be reel fast likes a jet zoom zoom zooom!

[Thedogbond]

dromander?

[TransAmmx]

That'l buff right out...

[gilligan682]

never made it off the runway..

[arnaud1180]

did he finish spraying the field?

[catalinaumbert]

will it float?

[BikerRussell]

*Walks around plane* Hmmm. Now THERES your problem, everythings smashed!

[seakinglover1]

blade folding

[TCxxGaming]

Or you could get a tractor...

[ProChoiceJesus]

There is NOTHING about a woman that makes females worse pilots thn men. It simply isn't true that women pilots are any worse in any way than men. Flying an airplane does not take a significant amount of physical prowess unless you're in something really old, or really heavy, or broken. Flying doesn't even require lots of extra, or special brainpower. I've heard it said by an old, excellent instructor when asked; "what's it take to fly?" He said; "If you can drive a standard well, you can fly."

[65LB]

A little baling wire and some 100 MPH tape and shell be ready to fly in the morning.

[interplexer]

LOL,shits fucked up /b/ro

[mobius1aic]

So take, these broken wings, and learn to fly again.......oh wait.

[RAUDIOR]

That sucks man! did the pilots survive?

[TheXcaliber223]

shit

[heettreet]

i'd pony up ,, get back on that air tractor and head for the wild blue yonder !!

[lejink]

well theres your problem

[tryithere]

A little Duct tape and good as new.

[sofruity3]

can i have it?

[aviateone]

All the big pieces are there ..lets go!

[Jazzyhorn111]

Some body was fighting the stick, and saying it's not over yet,till it stopped moving. I bet he said whewwww Im glad thats over, Im luckey!!!

[01sircharles]

looks like somebody got lucky.

[deraj1986]

Who the fuck let hulk hoagans son drive my plane!???

Too soon?

[benspreen]

@deraj1986 nope, right on time!

[tryithere]

@deraj1986 Maybe too soon if you said Macho Man but then you would have to be psychic.

[valdarmort]

still good for parts .owner could part it out and still make some cash for the next plane

[phil656565]

god that had to be a shitty ride

[jffrocks]

Looks like Obama was at the controls and ran it into the ground...

[dudleyrome]

wow well there was a million bucks spent in a instant....hope the pilot was ok.....sad to say its just one of the facts of crop dusting....crashing happens occasionaly

[Bigredgumball]

poopy

[wpockl]

Hope the pilot was ok

[routhoula]

its a broken transformer! you should go to cyber.co and ask a refund

[anythingthatflys]

That shit will buff right out!! Take it to Don in Lockett, TX and it will be better than new.

[k4144]

Wow what happened? People make it out ok?

I Acutally build fiberglass parts for these planes Rudder tips, elevator tips, Canopys, etc.... kinda sad to see one wrecked

[BOOOZB]

What is the story ?

[aaronzack14]

women......

[HFSidewalkHFSurferHF]

ich wars nit

[gilligan682]

It is still registered. Did they rebuild it?

No it was scraped, so sad...

[tampabayismyhome]

@gilligan682 How would one start a career in Crop Dusting? i live in North Dakota there is a lot of farm land here to dust. And what is the pay for a rookie? Thank you for taking the time to read this and answering my inquire.

[gilligan682]

Looks like it cartwheeled

It did,,

[ancjr]

Looks like it cartwheeled

[w5ua]

I've seen the Air Tractor 401 with the new Texas Recip engine and it ROCKS.

It is a beautiful plane made more beautiful by the engine and cowling.

I also understand that it will fly from sub zero cold to desert hot temps.

[pinewood8091]

Think he was chasing parked cars,caught one.

[preparehandbook]

Oh come on, death? A little bondo and some hammering and it'd be as good as new....

[wmaxson]

dude that sucks.

[Ironwench68]

Funny to read all the comments. When I left the biz, the AT was still pretty new. I once talked my way out of a seat by convincing the operator to buy an AT. He figured with the increased productivity he could go it alone. I always loved the Cat, but then I am a 1930s kind of guy and the flying Cat was like flying an Boeing F4B-2. I do remember an AD on the AT's rudder post spawned by a competitor when he found his rudder was ready to fall off. Still, Mr. snow made a good bird.

[terrellfarms1]

@Ironwench68 We had the bottom of the rudder, where the cables attach, snap off on an AT 301 while in flight. pilot brought the plane in and safely landed with no rudder. He was a good pilot from Mexico or Gahana i think.

[JRRACING1327]

Density altitude is a BITCH!!!

[xXiBMXwitSatanXx]

@JRRACING1327 lmao

[k0bkl1]

It is still registered. Did they rebuild it?

[SpyOptic93]

a little super glue and buble gum..no problem

[mopar92]

NTSB : ran out of fuel... period...

[madisonelectronic]

I imagine an "ordinary" plane would be in pieces along with the pilot?

[Spacepacer]

I guess and hope the pilot was alright in his cage.

[CoalTrain8321]

OOPS

[0thisisbatcountry0]

That sucks :/

[Apollo580]

@jamesandrew2000 Not funny.

[fets1978]

Look like he caught that right wing in a powerline

[zbeast]

wow... i didn't think you could get slow enough to stall one of these things... I was watching a guy doing hammer head stall's all day.

while dusting a field not once did he drop below his target speed. it was even flying though the freeway traffic, crossing again and a again at 20ft agl..

[Fromanttodugong]

While I hate to see a great plane smashed up, as long as the pilot made it - all that really matters.

[PistolPete2]

Little hay bailing wire and a little Duct Tape and it will be okay.

[every1sdesire]

we have one of these at the airport, its greaaat. a month ago there was a tornado here and the wing of the plane got damaged... but its fixable...

[RobertGary1]

Pilot was ok. Here is the offical cause

"The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed which resulted in a stall. A contributing factor was the high density altitude."

[justforever96]

Ouch! Poor plane. Took it like a champ at least. No damage to the cockpit. Did it crash on landing, takeoff, or while in flight? Well, very shortly AFTER it was in flight, I guess I should say! LOL.

[codybill1]

Air Tractors now have air bags in the seatbelt harness standard. Just one more thing Mr. Snow is doing to insure the safety of our beloved ag pilots. By the way I build Air Tractors, and ag planes don't get much better than them.

[jimmy34101]

@codybill1 scare tractors..............fletcher­s all the way

[raybanman]

@codybill1 I agree! Look at the cockpit. Un-touched. looks like the pilot just opened the hatch and got out. My father owned Ag-Trucks and had one of his pilots roll one up after a bird strike. Similar result. Great safety design to protect some damn skilled drivers!

[tedcoyote]

every cropduster pilot crashes at least once in life time

[kewlmynd99]

That will just buff right out...

[geekfish]

Well there is your probem!!!!..:)

[sablatnic]

@kewlmynd99

Don't think so. I'm afraid that not even photoshop can fix it. ;-)

[sjwyuma]

A few hundred K down the drain.. I assume pilot waked away. It never ceases to amaze me how tough the pits are on ag aircraft. I know a guy in Colo who put 3 Ag Cats into little balls and still walks... albiet his insurance carrier was not too impressed...

[bstrutton]

That's gonna take a shitload of 337's :)

[damondanner]

LMAO

[ejlister]

If this had been any of the operators I know, there would have been no FAA report and nothing in the logbooks of the incident or repairs! Ha! Hoolagans! :)

[keeevan]

ooo how did it happen, i would like to know maybe ill be able to learn something

[gilligan682]

too hot, and a little to heavy,

[keeevan]

what part of the flight did it go down? takeoff ?

[gilligan682]

Takeoff

[OTULP62]

@gilligan682 after the movie.

[chipfire]

The last few seconds!

[keeevan]

lol no response!

[stprimeflyer]

female pilot

[gilligan682]

nope. male

[dustoff86]

@stprimeflyer why would you say that? retard.

[OTULP62]

@stprimeflyer not a female problem, no parking involved.

[GreenAce92]

@stprimeflyer no way you obviously haven't seen Svetlana Kapanina the famous russian Su-31 aerobatic pilot

[bundieandmatt]

@stprimeflyer grow up and act your age its you idiotslike that blame women pilots i know it might be meant as a joke by think before you speak. some of the best pilots are women. Now i am a male pilot and i still respect women pilots and i think no matter what sex you are if you put your mind to it you can do whatever you want. so stop being so Disrespectful

[stprimeflyer]

@bundieandmatt i dont blame women pilots for anything, I own/ operate/ maintain/ fly airplanes and helicopters for a living and work with several female pilots, of course it was meant as a joke if you dont like it then keep scrolling down the comments

[lovemikey21]

@stprimeflyer Sexist

[MrSEEbeeARE]

@stprimeflyer from the last video

[gilligan682]

According to the pilot and NTSB, it was to hot, over 120+ degrees, and he was carrying to much weight in the spray tanks.

[sheldonholy]

And because it was too hot, the engine was lacking power. So too much weight on board means not enough power!

[Clearly69]

@gilligan682 It's not called a spray tank, it's a hopper and there is only 1and it wasn't too hot.

[147258GS]

@keeevan It CRASHED!

[docjeffry]

Looks like some of my Father-in-law's handy work!

~J~

[ChrisPCrunchy]

That will buff right out!

[trusty750]

pitty!! all airplanes are throw away, they are just tools for the job as long as the guy inside is ok thats what counts. great job Mr Snow..

[butlerproman]

A little bondo, knock out a few dents, she'll be good as new.

[zzot2]

Air Tractors are spam cans....throw away airplane so Leland can keep making them and charging $750,000 a pop.

[CMink7777]

Whats the best way to become an ag pilot? One of those expensive schools.......will the $50,000 tuition pay off?

[TonyAirlines]

Take lessons, solo, get your Private Pilot License, get your Commercial Pilot license, and find someone to hire ya!

[celsocorbelia]

E disso que eu tenho medo te cuida em cara esse trabalho nao e facil

[jfalkiner]

Ground looped?

[gilligan682]

Cartwheel

[sinfuldavy0]

happens all the time

[germandude1982]

"dad.... i wrecked the plane!" LOL

[gilligan682]

funny...

[BikerRussell]

And thats spelled death of "AN" air tractor!

[gilligan682]

cyr avation is correct,,,

[Terynitup]

I believe it's CYR aviation.. not CYL.

I know them

[tinabug008]

its not an air tractor dumbass its called a cropduster/air plane you geinus

[TamaHAHA]

are you trawling or should i point out everything wrong with what you just said?

[ejlister]

Dumbass, Air Tractor is the company that makes the plane. Dumbass!

[suprajeff5]

If you ask me thrush is crap. Airtractors are the best by far. They have a few problems but not many and i can guarntee you that they are working on fixing them. Why would you but from thrush a company that can barley keeps it doors open and only sells a handful of airplanes a year. The airtractor sales are up quite a bit for now.

[thuval3]

air tractors are very weakley made = tin cans , a flying beer can.............

[alvareteee]

guauuu!! destruido!!!

[pf126p]

Nothing a little duct tape couldn't fix.

[TuffLux01]

and uhu glue

[MachFly69]

RIP..

[toyota38]

Turbine Cat is where it's at!!!!!Flew, A-Model 450's and 600's for years. Then AT502's. Back in a turbine cat and will not look back.

[tailwheelflier]

Thrush, Airtractor, Agcat,,,they've fed the word many times over,,,gotta lovem all

[6785K]

Thrush now has a 29,000 hour wing, basicaly airplane can be crashed 5+ times before it needs a new wing, Burn rate on 600's was about 40GPH,runnin two B model Cats was 80GPH, the 502 burns about 60gal in a hour and half, so its a little less burn and lot more ground covered, I would rather crash in a thrush and work in an AT.

[1taildragger]

look at the bright side,,,theres quite a few parts avaliable now for the other airtractor,,,a good aileron,,couple flaps,,rudder, elevator,,etc....and a lesson learned

[gilligan682]

Pilot walked away unharmed, Slight ache, but went back up 2 hours later in the other tractor to spray the field

[sonofrattler]

I'm sure the pilot has a hell of a back ache. I'll say a prayer for him. It looks like he pancaked it. I grew up around Ag Pilots; Dad was one of the 1st to spray with a helicopter. Thanks for the view.. God bless all Ag Pilots, keep up the good work!

[7magJake]

I gotta say we have a 1995 502 and we take care of it, no hammerheads, keep it clean, treat it better than a kid and it is more productive than two B models cats, but we may have to ferry 8 or 10 miles at times, 600 Cats cant make no money at 3.50 a gallon av gas. That 502 can do the same work two cats can do and more, I wish we could have gotten a thrush but the 502 is really working out, I miss hearing the cats at 6 am every mornin though.

[GeneralSirDouglasMcA]

What was the fuel burn rate for the 600? The Ayres Thrush my granddad used to have burnt 40 gallons per hour!!!!! I don't see how a pilot could make any money with the way the prices are!! (I think it also had 600 hp).

[gilligan682]

The cause was two fold,,, Air density, and to much weight onboard

[j4cko56]

ouch!!! do you know the cause?

[zzot2]

Air Tractors are considered the spam cans of aerial spraying. They aren't built very tough at all. The manufacturer sacraficed structural integrity to minimize weight so they could fly faster. The Air Tractor wing is was made for speed, not short takeoffs or turns, both of which are important in the aerial spraying business. Air Tractor's also have hundreds of AD's and wind spar issues that are not be addressed. Other than that they are a great ag plane.

[comradeboris]

built like a tank......one of the most dangerous jobs in aviation, also one of the least reconized and unappriciated.....dusters deserve ALOT more recognition and apriciation....

[flyklh]

Amen to that!!! Crop dusting has been in my family for three generations now.

[corbystarlet]

is that turbo prop?

[comradeboris]

yep, looks like a PT6

[flyklh]

AT's do a good job but that wing likes speed and doesnt have near the lift as a Thrush. Hot and humid will bite you in the butt everytime.Hope the pilot is OK. Buy a Thrush! Much better wing and a lot stronger.

[agrockettt]

thrush rulz

[zzot2]

AgCat has twice the lift and truely is built like a tank. An AgCat can take off on a way shorter strip, and turn on a dime. If you don't have to ferry over 20 miles it's the most effecient ag plane built. Oh yes and they don't have all the wing issues that Thrush and Air Tractor have. No AD's for the Cat!

[agrockettt]

How do you change spar caps on an AgCat? tighten up the flin' wires!! you got a point. I like AgCats IF only there were no IF'S? 802AT ,510Thrush ,302AT ,450CAT"saved my ass" ,510-6Trush ,510-41Trush ,510-45Trush"Rockettt". Still like Dat AgCat!!!

[zzot2]

I fly a Super "B" with a Turbine Walter engine. I think it is funny all these ag pilots walking around with big shiney belt buckels talking about their air tractors. If I only have to ferry 20 miles my AgCat will out perform any air tractor. I can carry 400 gallons all day long, get off a dirt strip in less than 1/2 mile, and turn on a dime. I will also spray at 130 mph. Air Tractors need a mile long runway to get off, drop flaps in every turn to get back around, and have 100's of ad's.

[agrockettt]

You ever flew a Thrush or Air Tractor? They fly pretty good considering there negtives.

[zzot2]

I will agree with you that a Thrush is built better than an AT, but Thrush has as many or more issues and AD's and wing spars. I also don't think Thrush will be in the bussiness much longer. They were sold once again. There is no stability at Thrush. If you want to get technical about it, Leland Snow designed the Thursh as well, or course it was called a Snow back in the day.

[flyklh]

Ya I have to agree with you on that one! My old man has been doing wing root inspections (NDT) for quite some time now nation wide on both aircraft

[flyklh]

I will have to agree with you on that one. My old man has been doing wing root inspections(NDT) on both aircraft nation wide for quite some time now.

[zzot2]

Wing spar issue are the downfall of both the Air Tractor and Thrush. Right now the FAA is in the process of ruling on the major wing spar issues of the Thrush. At any time the FAA could ground the entire fleet of Thrush's up a certain year. The new ones are suspose to have a 25,000 hour wing spar, but we will see. Air Tractors too have major problems and Leland Snow doesn't do anything about it, but put band aids on them. This is why I fly an AgCat...safest ag plane period.

[flyklh]

Amen to that. Like a tank.

[agav8r802]

Hi Cat Man.....

Still recovering from a 400' straight in punch in an AT-602. I hit powerlines approx 8 miles from our home strip, came to the house for a precautionary landing. The wires had torn more than I thought, & the landing turned bad. Long story Short! A/C Pitched straight up, approx 400', Then straight down! I'M ALIVE!!!!

I have personally thanked Leland for his commitment to design & safety.

Ron Youngblood

NE Arkansas

Air Tractor 100%

[jetfueljp4]

holy crap! looks like it cartwheeled!

[mww88]

these are amazing airplanes! my dad has been flying them for a while and now flys the air tractor 802 and puts out wild fires. notice in all air tractor crashes that the cockpit is still intact. very strong

[fortitude3030]

Ouch!! Too bad for the owner/operator. :(

[gilligan682]

According to the pilot and NTSB, it was to hot, over 120+ degrees, and he was carrying to much weight in the spray tanks.

Fully insured/ No injuries

[XBJAJ]

How it hapened??, and do this planes have any insurance.