DEN08LA107 · Ayres S2R-G6
Ayres S2R-G6 · Accident: system/component malfunction/failure (non-power) while maneuvering
From Altheimer, AR (no airport) to No airport
Event
- NTSB case
- DEN08LA107
- 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
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- 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-G6
- 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
- N61374
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Altheimer, AR (no airport)To No airport
- 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 137: Agricultural
- 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 · low-altitude flying
- Defining eventThe 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
- System/component malfunction/failure (non-power)
- 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
- Tree(s)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The pilot was spraying a rice field with fertilizer when the "airplane began to lose altitude." The pilot attempted a forced landing in an open bean field. During the forced landing the airplane's right wing struck a tree, spinning the airplane around to the right. The airplane then impacted the terrain sideways, shearing off the landing gear, bending both wings, and buckling the fuselage. An examination of the engine showed evidence indicating the engine was not operating prior to impact. Additionally, the examination showed nothing that would have caused a loss of power or an in-flight engine shutdown. Further investigation determined that the airplane had previously experienced an uncommanded engine shut down. According to the wiring system schematic, the manufacturer did not install engine speed switches to automatically and electronically control the fuel system, but instead, installed pilot-activated switches for manual control of the fuel system. Examination of the system showed evidence of a short in the wires to the switch. The manufacturer stated that if a short in the wires occurred or if a switch failed due to contamination or corrosion, voltage could be sent to pin "B" on the Fuel Shutoff (Solenoid) Valve, causing the fuel shutoff valve to close.
Probable cause
A total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of an electrical short in the wiring to the manual fuel switch that closed the fuel valves.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record DEN08LA107
- Event ID
- 20080624X00900
- Case number
- DEN08LA107
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
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: investigation status, coordinates. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: d8c942f293c26890e1304747194fe39d91642d3ede5d0e0e39bd1b488af99485; retrieved 2026-09-15T09:47:59.496Z.