Ayres S2R-T34 accident near Firebaugh, California, July 13, 2002
On July 13, 2002 at about 3:30 am local time, a Ayres S2R-T34, registered N4020Y, was substantially damaged in an accident near Firebaugh, California (Newman Strip airport). It was an aerial application (crop spraying) flight under agricultural flying rules (Part 137). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The overload fracture and separation of the left main gear strut assembly due the left landing gear's encounter with a chuck hole in the private airstrip's asphalt pavement. A factor in the accident was the inadequate maintenance of the airstrip's surface.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 13, 2002 · about 3:30 am local time
- Place
- Firebaugh, California · Newman Strip · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Ayres S2R-T34
- Registration
- N4020Y · registry record · serial T34-022
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application (crop spraying) flight · agricultural flying rules (Part 137)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airplane sustained a separated left main landing gear during the takeoff ground roll from a private farm airstrip. After the landing gear separated from the airplane, the airplane veered off of the runway and came to rest in a ditch. An FAA airworthiness inspector examined the airplane. He reported that the ear that secures the left main gear strut to the fuselage structure had fractured and separated, allowing the left gear strut to separate from the fuselage. The inspector examined the 30-foot-wide airstrip in the area used by the pilot for the takeoff ground roll. He located a chuck hole in the asphalt pavement that was 15 feet long by 3 feet wide and that had a maximum depth of 3 inches. At the northern end of the chuck hole (closest to the airplane point of rest), a 2.5-inch-deep lip was noted in the hole wall. Marks and transfers consistent with the landing gear and the fuselage contact to the pavement were noted just beyond this chuck hole.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 18,000 hours in all; 12,000 in this make and model; 120 in the last 90 days; 75 in the last 30 days
- Last flight review: August 30, 2001
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: ctr
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 1,542 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, April 1, 2002; 157 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 6,000 lb
- Seats: 1
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Pratt & Whitney PT6-34AG (turboprop); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: PVT Firebaugh CA at 3:30 am
- Flight plan: none
- Runway NW, 2,500 ft by 30 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 310° at 14 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: a few clouds at 20,000 ft
- Temperature: 93°F (34°C), dew point 59°F (15°C)
- Altimeter: 29.79 inHg
- Observation at 3:56 am from KFAT, 37 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.