- Date
- October 16, 1990, 19:20 local (Oct 17, 1990, 02:20 UTC)
- Place
- El Centro, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N4001MAyres S2RT-T34
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report November 23, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19901016046269A
- Case key
- 26954
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Collision with a ground object after the pilot successfully made a night time emergency landing after experiencing an engine power interruption for undetermined reasons.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot experienced a bright flash out of the exhaust ports of the engine and heard a loud bang at the same time. He made an emergency landing in a field and after rolling about 100 feet the aircraft collided with one ton bales of hay. Examination and teardown of the engine revealed no physical evidence of an engine malfunction or problem.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4001M
- Reported as
- Ayres S2RT-T34
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 6001
- Airframe hours
- 7,322
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-34AG, 783 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Stoker Co.
- Registered owner
- Stoker Company
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 26, 1990 · 160 hours before
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 55
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 33,000 total · 15,000 in this make and model · 32,900 as pilot in command · 432 in the last 90 days · 216 in the last 30 days · 10 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.