Air Tractor 301 accident near Lueders, Texas, July 3, 2007
On July 3, 2007 at about 1:30 am local time, a Air Tractor 301, registered N7305E, was destroyed in an accident near Lueders, Texas (None airport). It was an aerial application (crop spraying) flight under agricultural flying rules (Part 137). 1 person was seriously injured. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall and subsequent impact with terrain.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 3, 2007 · about 1:30 am local time
- Place
- Lueders, Texas · None · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was seriously injured.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Air Tractor 301
- Registration
- N7305E · no longer on the register · serial 301-0602
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Aerial application (crop spraying) flight · agricultural flying rules (Part 137)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The 917-hour commercial pilot, with 98-hours in make/model, was performing the turn to reverse direction during an agricultural spraying flight when the tail-wheel equipped airplane stalled and impacted the ground in a nose-low attitude. When asked in the NTSB 6120.1 accident form "How could this accident have been prevented?" the pilot responded, "Do not stall heavy aircraft near the ground." The pilot further reported that there was no mechanical malfunction or failure of the airplane.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: commercial pilot
- Ratings: single-engine land
- Flight time: 917 hours in all; 98 in this make and model; 98 in the last 90 days; 50 in the last 30 days; 761 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: June 1, 2006
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: ctr
- Injury: serious injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 7,370 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, June 1, 2007
- Maximum gross weight: 5,000 lb
- Seats: 1
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Pratt & Whitney R-1340 (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Murphree Flying Service Inc.
The flight
- Departed from: 56F Rotan/Roby TX
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 090° at 4 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 9,000 ft; scat at 8,000 ft
- Temperature: 73°F (23°C), dew point 70°F (21°C)
- Altimeter: 30.04 inHg
- Observation at 1:52 am from ABI, 30 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.