N3298M

On September 22, 2020, about 1530 central daylight time, an Ayres Corporation S2R-T45, N3298M, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Jackson, Tennessee. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 aerial application flight.

The pilot reported that he was spreading crop seed on a field about 150-200 ft above ground level (agl) when the engine lost all power. He continued over a subdivision and looked for a place to land the airplane. He selected a road between trees and a powerline. He attempted to slow the airplane as much as possible prior to the forced landing. According to the pilot, the airplane 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.

An inspector with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) responded to the accident site and examined the wreckage. Structural damage to the forward fuselage and both wings was noted. The inspector reported that there was no odor of fuel at the scene and no evidence of fuel leakage around or under the wreckage. Removal of the fuel tank inspection panels revealed no fuel in either tank. Inspection of the main fuel line at the firewall and the high-pressure fuel line between the high-pressure pump and the fuel control unit revealed only trace amounts of fuel. When the wreckage was disassembled for recovery, personnel reported that there was no fuel found during this process.

According to company records, the last fueling occurred at 1236, and the airplane was in continuous operation, including stops to replenish payload, since that refueling. The owner reported that the maximum fuel endurance under those circumstances would have been about 3 hours.

According to the FAA inspector, the pilot was operating a different aircraft on the day of the accident as compared to the aircraft he normally flew. The aircraft involved in the accident had a significantly larger engine than the pilot was used to and, consequently, a higher fuel burn. When interviewing the pilot, he stated that he normally kept track of his fuel burn with the timer installed in the aircraft that he was used to operating. The accident aircraft did not have the same feature.