The pilot reported, that while maneuvering at a low altitude near Turkey, Texas, in an Air Tractor AT602, he dumped about 350 gallons of pink water for a gender reveal.
The airplane “got too slow,” aerodynamically stalled, hit terrain, and came to rest inverted.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, right wing, and empennage. The pilot sustained minor injuries.
The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
The FAA inspector added there were two people on board the single-seat airplane.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed and his exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack during a low pass, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and impact with terrain.
This September 2019 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
C’mon, we have to stop with these dumb “gender reveal” parties. Crashed airplanes, burned down houses, people hurt and killed with fireworks and improvised artillery, guns fired into the air (“where it landed I know not where”), brush fires . . . Darwin should be collecting a lot of overtime, he’s putting in quite a few hours lately.
Darwin was wrong. All of these idiots already reproduced.
You can take most of these stories and use the same narrative, just change the names. There will always be pilot error when these people ignore the regulations and exceed the aircraft performance limitations such as in this case “ 2 people in a single seat airplane”. How dumb can people be?
Just brilliant!