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LAX95LA154 · Ayres S2R-T34

5 Apr 1995 · Stanfield, AZ, United States

Walton Enterprises of Arizona Ayres S2R-T34 · Accident: in flight collision with object while maneuvering

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Event

NTSB case
LAX95LA154
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
1 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Ayres S2R-T34

Aircraft type
Ayres S2
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N3105B
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From not recordedTo not recorded
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Maneuvering · aerial application
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
In flight collision with object
Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
Wire, transmission
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Clearance, not maintained
  • Pilot in command › Visual lookout, inadequate

Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Stanfield, AZ, the place the record names. Not the accident site.

NTSB narrative

THE SURVIVING PASSENGER SAID HE HAD NO MEMORY OF THE ACCIDENT FLIGHT AND WAS IN THE REAR SEAT TO OBSERVE THE USE OF A GPS-BASED GUIDANCE SYSTEM WHICH HIS COMPANY HAD PURCHASED. THE OPERATOR IS A DISTRIBUTOR FOR THE GUIDANCE SYSTEM AND WAS CONDUCTING CLASSES FOR PURCHASERS OF THE SYSTEM. THE AIRCRAFT HAD NO CHEMICALS ON BOARD. A WITNESS WAS 1 MILE FROM THE ACCIDENT SITE AND SAW THE AIRCRAFT IN A TURN NEAR THE EDGE OF A FARM FIELD, THEN SAW THE BLACK SMOKE RISING FROM THE SITE. THE AIRCRAFT WAS EXAMINED BY AN FAA AIRWORTHINESS INSPECTOR WHO SAW WIRE CONTACT SIGNATURES ON THE RIGHT MAIN LANDING GEAR AND SPREADER BOOMS. THE AIRCRAFT APPEARED TO BE TURNING FROM A SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST DIRECTION IN A 40-DEGREE BANKED TURN WHEN IT STRUCK FOUR 1-INCH DIAMETER ALUMINUM POWER LINES AT A FARM FIELD'S WESTERN BOUNDARY. THREE OF THE LINES WERE SEVERED. THREE SEPARATE SECTIONS OF THE WIRE HAD ENDS WITH A CUT APPEARANCE, WITH NO EVIDENCE OF DUCTILE DEFORMATION OR NECKING. THE PROPELLER DISPLAYED LEADING EDGE DAMAGE, CHORDWISE SCORING, TORSIONAL TWIST SIGNATURES, AND TIP BENDING OPPOSITE THE CAMBERED SIDE. NO EVIDENCE OF MECHANICAL DISCREPANCIES WERE FOUND.

Probable cause

the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate visual lookout for, and clearance from, obstacles while conducting simulated aerial application operations.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record LAX95LA154
Event ID
20001207X03312
Case number
LAX95LA154
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1995-04-06.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: b398274fcd7e398d3c7f778793a3fa8309ca2fd24bb186b261542b013474783d; retrieved 2026-09-20T23:50:02.521Z.