Ayres S2R-600 N5674X

Summary

On 25 March 2008 at about 02:00 local time, a Ayres S2R-600 registered N5674X was involved in an accident near Blythe, California, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

25 March 2008 at 02:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Blythe, California, United States

Coordinates

33.6192, -114.7169

Aircraft

Ayres S2R-600

Registration

N5674X

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Blythe → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

LAX08CA085

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain terrain clearance. Contributing factors were the dusk light condition and the pressure the pilot felt to accomplish the flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, at the end of a day of aerial application flights, he received a call from a customer who wanted a small field sprayed that evening. The airplane was not equipped with lights for night spraying; however, the pilot felt there was still enough light to safely accomplish the 10-minute job. The flight departed from the pilot's private airstrip at dusk and proceeded to the job area, which was flat terrain with no obstructions except canal banks at each end of the field. The first of three intended spray runs was completed without incident. At the end of the second spray run, the pilot did not see the canal bank at the end of the field. The airplane impacted the canal bank, bounced into the air, glided for about 1/4 mile, hit a second canal bank, nosed over and came to rest inverted. The pilot stated that the accident could have been prevented "by not allowing anyone, including myself, to pressure me into doing something that I knew was a substantially higher than normal risk for very little benefit."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.