- Date
- July 29, 1993, 07:20 local (14:20 UTC)
- Place
- Tulare, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N4016BAyres S-2R-T34
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 26, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930729026479A
- Case key
- 28437
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
the failure of the main gear inner lower tube assembly due to fatigue.
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 had completed four aerial application flights. While taxiing out for the fifth flight, the left main landing gear collapsed. Examination of the main gear strut revealed that the inner lower tube assembly fractured at a bolt hole due to fatigue.
Factual narrative
On July 29, 1993, at 0720 hours Pacific daylight time, an Ayres S-2R- T34, N4016B, left main gear collapsed, which ultimately damaged the left wing spar, while taxiing for takeoff at Tulare Airport, Tulare, California. The pilot was beginning a local visual flight rules aerial application flight. The airplane, operated by Moore Aviation, Tulare, sustained substantial damage. The certificated commercial pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured.
The pilot reported in a telephone interview conducted on January 13, 1994, that he had completed four aerial application flights before beginning the accident flight. Company maintenance personnel reported that the main gear strut lower inner tube assembly bolt hole cracked which ultimately led to the gear failure. The cracked hole radius displayed extensive fatigue signatures.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4016B
- Reported as
- Ayres S-2R-T34
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 6043
- Airframe hours
- 7,590
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-34-AG, 750 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Moore Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 1, 1993
- Airport
- TLR · Medfford Field
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
- 39
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 7,248 total · 1,500 in this make and model · 167 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FAT, 42 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.