Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Beaver, Utah 84713
Monday, May 31, 2004 12:15 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, he had finished spraying a field and was returning to the airport for another load. He said that he had half a tank of fuel remaining and the engine was producing "excellent power." A few moments later, the engine ran rough for about a second and then stopped. He did not notice anything coming out of the exhaust. The pilot tried twice to restart the engine but was unsuccessful and he attempted a forced landing to an open field. During the landing, the airplane impacted terrain and struck a fence. Both wings were displaced aft and the right main landing gear was collapsed. A visual examination of the engine revealed a 360 degree crack around the P3 air pressure tube, causing a separation of the tube between the engine plenum and fuel control unit. The crack was approximately one-quarter inch aft of the "B" nut, which connects the P3 air pressure tube to the fuel control unit. There was a "notable" amount of carbon build-up in the area around the crack. According to a maintenance representative, failure of the tube in flight would have resulted in a "significant reduction in fuel scheduling which could result in an engine flameout." An attempt to restart the engine in flight would "likely have failed," however; an attempt would have accounted for the "notable" amount of carbon build-up around the break in the tube. No other aircraft anomalies were noted.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the in-flight failure of the engine's P3 tube which resulted in the loss of engine power and the subsequent impact with terrain during a forced landing. Contributing factors include the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing and the fence.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/31/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1215 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Beaver |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84713 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1254 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 295 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMLF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5039 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 7144 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16499 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 31 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1334 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 10:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Salt Lake City FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5686X |
| NTSB Number | DEN04LA083 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Ayres Corporation |
| Aircraft Model | S-2R |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2359R |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 33 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David S. Sheppard |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 264 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fort Bridger |
| Aircraft Owner State | WY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 82933 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | U52 |
| Departure City | Beaver |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1120 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | U52 |
| Destination City | Beaver |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering - aerial application |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 8 2004 11:49AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |