Ayres S2R N3298M

Summary

On 22 September 2020 at about 20:30 local time, a Ayres S2R registered N3298M, operated by AirWorks LLC, was involved in an accident near Jackson, Tennessee, 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

22 September 2020 at 20:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Jackson, Tennessee, United States

Coordinates

35.6923, -88.6834

Aircraft

Ayres S2R

Registration

N3298M

Category

Airplane

Year built

1995

Engines

1

Operator

AirWorks LLC

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Jackson → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA20LA333

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to adequately monitor his fuel supply, resulting in fuel exhaustion, a total loss of engine power, and a forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was spreading crop seed on a field about 150-200 ft above ground level (agl) when the engine lost all power. He selected a road between trees and a powerline for a forced landing. The airplane reportedly stalled about 10 ft above the road, touched down hard, and the landing gear collapsed. The airplane slid on its belly until the left wing struck a tree and the airplane came to a stop, resulting in substantial damage to the airframe. Examination of the wreckage revealed no fuel in ether fuel tank, no fuel spillage, and only contained trace amounts of fuel in the fuel lines. At the time of the accident, the airplane had been in operation for about 3 hours, which the owner reported was the airplane’s maximum fuel endurance. The pilot reported that he normally used a cockpit-mounted timer to keep track of the airplane’s fuel endurance but did not normally fly the accident airplane, which was not equipped with this feature.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.