Abstract: At 8:48 a.m. on June 2, 2023, Employee #1 was a wingman/aircraft loader helper who was on the wing of the aircraft built by Air Tractor Inc. N-602EW (Serial Number 602-0566 and Model Number AT-602). Employee #1 was holding the sock of the bucket that was placed into the hopper of the aircraft, when they were filling the hopper of the aircraft with a granular fertilizer. The telescoping hydraulic cylinder/ram suddenly failed, when the rod got unscrewed from the piston and popped out of the cylinder resulting in the fall of the boom. When the ram failed, the bucket attached at the end of the boom fell onto Employee #1, crushing and trapping Employee #1 between the bucket and the hopper of the aircraft, causing fatal injuries. The aircraft loader truck is equipped with a boom that extends towards the front of the truck with a bucket attached to it. The boom is lifted by a telescoping hydraulic cylinder which is referred to as a ram. The bucket has a sock at the bottom that leads grains or fertilizer into the hopper of the aircraft. The telescoping hydraulic cylinder/ram was replaced with upgrades a year before the incident. The prior ram was used for over 20 years with the same operation. The employer purchased the new ram from a machine shop that stocks and supplies telescoping hydraulic cylinders/ram for loader trucks, however, the rams replaced/ installed on loader trucks were not used as recommended by the manufacturer of the telescoping hydraulic cylinders/ram. The employer used the rams as a support structure, which is contrary to the manufacturer's recommendation.