Air Tractor INC AT-402A accident near Good Hope, Alabama, April 24, 2023
On April 24, 2023 at about 2:00 pm local time, a 2000 Air Tractor INC AT-402A, registered N623LA, was substantially damaged in an accident near Good Hope, Alabama (None airport). It was an aerial application (crop spraying) flight under agricultural flying rules (Part 137). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot’s decision to land on a runway where there was insufficient clearance from obstructions (wheat crop) to operate safely.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- April 24, 2023 · about 2:00 pm local time
- Place
- Good Hope, Alabama · None · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Air Tractor INC AT-402A, built 2000 · all AT-402As on the register
- Registration
- N623LA · registry record · serial 402A-1127
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application (crop spraying) flight · agricultural flying rules (Part 137)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot of the agricultural airplane was landing on a private runway that was about 24 feet wide and surrounded by wheat crop. The pilot described that, during the landing, the airplane was closer to the edge of the runway than he thought, and the airplane’s right spray boom caught on the wheat after touchdown. The airplane subsequently veered off the runway and into the wheat field, resulting in substantial damage to the airplane’s empennage and left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that he should have checked the runway conditions before landing and considered the possible impact of the growing wheat on his operation from the runway.
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
What happened, in order
- 552300 during descent - emergency
The NTSB's findings
- Personnel issues › Action/decision › Info processing/decision › Decision making/judgment › Pilot
- Environmental issues › Operating environment › Airport facilities/design › Runway/landing area condition › Awareness of condition
- Environmental issues › Physical environment › Object/animal/substance › (general) › Effect on operation
Pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine land, single-engine sea, none, none, none
- Flight time: 2,000 hours in all; 800 in this make and model; 90 in the last 90 days; 40 in the last 30 days; 1,950 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: February 19, 2023
- Medical certificate: class 2
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 8,000 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, May 22, 2022
- Maximum gross weight: 7,500 lb
- Seats: 1
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Pratt & Whittney PT6A-11AG (turboprop); 8,000 hours total
- Operator: Pitts Aerial Services
- Operating certificate: in the vicinity
The flight
- Departed from: PVT Cullman AL at 1:40 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 36, 2,500 ft by 24 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 060° at 11 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: a few clouds at 12,000 ft
- Temperature: 50°C, dew point 34°C
- Altimeter: 30.209999 inHg
- Observation at 8:55 am from KCMD, 5 miles away
Weather report (METAR): KCMD 241355Z AUTO 06011KT 10SM FEW120 10/01 A3021 RMK AO2
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flig | 1 |
Other NTSB records under N623LA the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The docket at the NTSB holds the report as a PDF and the investigation's photographs and documents. This site never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number ERA23LA215.