N331BS

On June 21, 2024, about 1045 mountain daylight time, an Air Tractor Inc AT-802A airplane, N331BS, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Capitan, New Mexico. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 positioning flight.

The airplane was in the number two position in a flight of three airplanes that had completed their firefighting duties in Texas and were repositioning the airplanes to Oregon. They planned a refueling stop at Gallup Municipal Airport (GUP), Gallup, New Mexico. Before the flight reached GUP, they encountered weather near the Capitan mountains. The lead airplane and number 3 airplane climbed and turned towards the east to avoid the weather. The pilot of the number 3 airplane reported that they observed the accident airplane descend to a lower altitude and the pilot told them that he had located a “VFR corridor.”

Subsequently, the lead and number 3 airplanes landed at GUP and realized that the accident airplane did not arrive and was missing. The Federal Aviation Administration was notified and shortly thereafter issued an Alert Notice for the missing airplane. Later that afternoon, an airplane located the wreckage about 9 miles east northeast of Capitan.

The accident site was located in heavily forested terrain at an elevation of about 7,160 ft mean sea level. The airplane impacted several trees and came to rest on its right side. The first identified point of impact was about a 50 ft tall tree. The debris path was about 120 ft long and orientated on a magnetic heading of about 335°. All major structural components of the airplane were located within the debris path.

The airplane wreckage was recovered to a secure facility for further examination.