WPR09LA299

During an aerial application run for the dispersement of agricultural chemicals, the pilot pulled up at the end of the field in order to initiate his reversal turn. Just as he did so, the airplane's engine coughed twice and then lost all power. The pilot was able to make a power-off forced landing in an adjacent field, but during the landing roll the airplane impacted a fence and the steel posts that support it. The engine received significant thermal damage from the postcrash fire and teardown inspections were unable to determine the reason for the loss of power.

On June 19, 2009, about 1315 mountain daylight time, an Ayres S2R-600, N3089K, collided with a fence during a forced landing about two miles north of Saint Anthony, Idaho. The commercial pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured, but the airplane, which was owned and operated by Shupe Flying Service, was destroyed by a post-crash fire. The 14 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 137 aerial application flight, which departed Saint Anthony Airport about 35 minutes before the accident, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed. According to the pilot, he was applying chemicals to a field of barley. Just after he pulled up at the end of the field in order to initiate his reversal turn, the engine coughed a couple times and then lost all power. He was able to make a successful touchdown in an adjacent field, but during the landing roll, the airplane impacted a fence and the posts that supported it. Although the pilot was able to get out of the airplane, a fire that initially started out small eventually destroyed most of the airplane's structure. A post-accident inspection of the engine and its accessories was hampered by the extent of the thermal damage that occurred in the post-crash fire, and no determination as to an instigating anomaly or malfunction could be made. As a follow-up measure, the carburetor, which appeared to have sustained limited thermal damage, was shipped to Covington Aircraft of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, for further inspection. The results of that inspection were also inconclusive as disassembly determined that internal thermal damage had resulted from the carburetor's exposure to the heat of the fire.