US Air Force Crash Was Crop Duster Converted To Special Operations Aircraft

The U.S. Air Force plane that crashed in a field in Oklahoma Thursday afternoon was a new special operations light attack aircraft that the service first received earlier this year.

The new OA-1K Skyraider II is a militarized version of the famous AT-802 Air Tractor, used for agricultural work such as crop spreading or aerial application of pesticides or fertilizers. The Air Force aircraft supports missions such as close air support and armed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

The accident happened Thursday afternoon in southeast Oklahoma City, according to the Oklahoma Air National Guard. The aircraft and crew were assigned to the 492nd Special Operations Wing at Will Rogers Air National Guard Base. No injuries were reported among the two people on board and the cause of the accident remains under investigation.

Oklahoma City fire officials told local media that the plane appeared to have suffered some sort of engine failure and that the crew attempted to land it in a safe area, in this case a field.

The crew included one civilian and one active-duty airman. At the time of the incident, the aircraft was on a training flight.

The OA-1K Skyraider II was first revealed to the public in early May during SOF Week 2025 in Tampa, Florida, where Business Insider got an up-close look at the new aircraft. The first mission-ready Skyraider II aircraft had been delivered to Air Force Special Operations Command just before this event.

While the aircraft started out as a crop duster, the OA-1K Skyraider II – named after the A-1 Skyraider from the Korean and Vietnam wars – received a ton of upgrades for various missions, such as CAS, armed ISR and strike. Different technologies can be easily integrated into the modular design of aircraft for different missions.

Manufactured by L3Harris, the OA-1K Skyraider II has been described by the Air Force as a flexible aircraft that has more manageable maintenance requirements and a lower cost per flight hour than other AFSOC aircraft, at less than $1,000 per hour.

It was primarily built for armed surveillance and attacks in permissive environments. L3Harris officials previously told Business Insider that one of the plane’s strengths is its ability to land. pretty much “anywhere,” from rugged, isolated airfields to highways.

The Air Force has prioritized this flexibility for high-end wars in which fixed bases and airfields are vulnerable targets for a well-armed adversary like China or Russia. More austere environments and unconventional runways are less likely to attract enemy missiles.