To stall-spin or not

In May, Brazil lost another ag-pilot. This time all evidence points to it being a stall-spin accident in an AT-502. This is an all-too familiar accident for the U.S. ag-aviation industry. Of course, there are more ag-planes in the U.S. than any other country.

The AT-502 is an excellent flying ag-plane. Any “502” pilot will tell you this. The stall-spin accident is not the fault of the aircraft. Simply stated, it is always the fault of the pilot; unless there has been a structural failure. That having been said, the question is why?

Ag-pilots by definition are highly capable of flying an aircraft on the edge of a stall in various weight configurations. They are acutely aware of the consequences when flying at gross weight. However, my speculation is they let down their guard as the aircraft becomes lighter during the application.

I don’t have the data and doubt it is even collected anywhere, but I feel confident believing most stall-spin accidents occur in lightly loaded aircraft; precisely when they shouldn’t ever happen.

The performance of an ag-plane once it reduces its load to near nil can be astounding. After battling this ship for an extended time, flying near the stall, it becomes somewhat of a relief to feel the performance of the plane with its light load. Factor in that a lightly loaded aircraft is more productive; the pilot now may try to make up for perceived lost time during the loaded phase of the application.

Over 25 years ago when I sold my flying service to my competition, one of the things I noticed was his ability to fly the aircraft; every turn was like the first one. I did not see him “jacking” the aircraft around when it became light. It was an interesting observation because he was just as productive, if not more so.

An ag-pilot should realize simply being in the cockpit of an ag-plane makes him “the pilot other pilots want to be”, as the bumper sticker says. He should not feel the pressure to prove otherwise with exotic turns that put his life and the aircraft in jeopardy. That’s right, his life. Pilots don’t survive stall-spin accidents.

There are two types of audiences the hot dog ag-pilot is performing for; those who don’t know what it takes to fly an ag-plane and those who do. The ones who don’t know, like the general public pulled off the side of the road to watch you fly, are more impressed with your low flying than your turning. Those who do know are not impressed with your lack of judgement.

The next time you have the urge, when it is cool or late in the day and the aircraft is performing beautifully, think if it is necessary to live on the edge of a stall-spin accident. Trust me, better pilots than you have been killed by not being able to resist.

Until next month, Keep Turning...