NTSB MKC90DPG02 — 1990-06-01 · ALICIA, Arkansas, United States

N8940Q has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (BOEING 737-8, built 2025), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

N8940Q Aero Commander S-2R Fatal

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTIAN AIRSPEED DURING THE TURN TO REVERSE DIRECTION FOR A SWATH RUN.

Factual narrative

ACCORDING TO THE FLAGMAN FOR THE AERIAL APPLICATOR THE PILOT HAD COMPLETED HIS FIRST SWATH RUN AND INITIALLY PULLED UP AND TURNED RIGHT. HE THEN REVERSED HIS TURN TO THE LEFT IN ORDER TO ALIGN THE AIRPLANE FOR THE SECOND PASS. THE FLAGMAN OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE TO BE STILL IN THE LEFT TURN NEARING THE SWATH RUN HEADING WHEN THE RIGHT WING SEEMED TO GET TOO HIGH. HE STATED 'HIS RIGHT WING JUST SEEMED TO KEEP COMING OVER TILL HE WAS 3/4 COCKED AND GOING STRAIGHT DOWN TO THE GROUND.' AFTER CONTACTING WIRES THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH THE GROUND IN A RESIDENTIAL STREET AND WAS INVOLVED IN AN INTENSE POST CRASH FIRE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_MKC90DPG02.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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