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| Date: | Monday 14 August 2000 |
| Time: | 10:20 |
| Type: |  Ayres S2R-T Turbo Thrush |
| Owner/operator: | Earl's Spray Service, Inc. |
| Registration: | N3103B |
| MSN: | 2583R |
| Year of manufacture: | 1992 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2848 hours |
| Engine model: | Allied Signal TPE 331-1 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Bad Axe, MI -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Agricultural |
| Departure airport: | BAX |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The airplane was performing an aerial application flight when it impacted the ground while making a turn at the end of a spray pass. Witnesses to the accident reported that they saw the aircraft making a turn at the end of northbound pass. One of the witnesses reported that during the turn, "...the left wing dropped, nose went down, and the aircraft spun to the left." A second witness reported that, "...in the middle of the turn about that the plane seemed to be turning a little to[o] sharp. He was flying north turning to the west when about halfway is when it dipped real bad and made about 3/4 of a revolution and came nose first into the ground." The witness also stated that he did not hear a difference in engine sound when the accident occurred. A third witness reported that the aircraft, "...turned right then left at about 2/3 of the way around the plane seemed to turn real sharp then turned over and spiraled to the ground. A fourth witness reported that the aircraft was, "...spraying from south to north, and was in the process of making a turn to his left and was starting to come out of the turn when the plane started to roll or spin down. I could hear the engine thru out the spraying process and the sound of the engine never seem[ed] to change thru out this period." A postaccident examination of the aircraft did not reveal any anomalies that could be associated with a preexisting condition.
Probable Cause: The inadvertent stall/spin encountered by the pilot. A factor was the low altitude.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20001212X21679&key=1
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Oct-2008 10:30 | ASN archive | Added |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:24 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency, ] |
| 12-Dec-2017 19:03 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
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