- Date
- June 2, 1994, 15:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Burley, ID
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8542Ayres S2R
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 27, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940602013419A
- Case key
- 41939
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
A loose carburetor. Factors include no suitable terrain for making a forced landing, and trees in the field where the forced landing took place.
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
Just as the aerial application pilot was completing a spray run, the engine lost power. There was no suitable landing site available, and the pilot executed a forced landing in a nearby field. During the landing roll, the aircraft impacted a tree line that ran across the field. It was later discovered that the carburetor mounting bolts had come loose, allowing the fuel mixture to become too lean.
Factual narrative
On June 2, 1994, approximately 1530 mountain daylight time (MDT), an Ayres S2R, N8542, impacted trees during a forced landing seven miles east of Burley, Idaho. The commercial pilot, who was the sole occupant of the airplane, received no injuries, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The agricultural application flight, which departed a county road approximately 1430 MDT, was in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT activation.
The pilot said that the engine lost power as he started a pull-up from an application run. He executed a forced landing in an adjacent field, and impacted a line of trees during the landing roll.
It was later discovered that the carburetor mounting bolts were loose, and the carburetor was not firmly seated against its mounting flange.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8542
- Reported as
- Ayres S2R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- R-1820-0012
- Airframe hours
- 2,200
- Engine
- Wright R-1820-71, 1,200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Bates, Bruce E.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 30, 1993 · 150 hours before
- Departed
- County Road, ID
- Destination
- ID
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
- 43
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 14,421 total · 511 in this make and model · 150 in the last 90 days · 90 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 225° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 91 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.