On July 15, 1993, an Ayres S2R-T34 (registration N40203) operated by Pierce Aviation was involved in an aviation accident near Buckeye, AZ. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: the pilot's failure to visually detect and avoid a power line. A factor in the accident was the twilight light condition. This summary draws on records from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archive; 3 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.
An agricultural aircraft collided with a power line while spraying fields. The pilot reported not seeing the line during a pre-run obstacle check. The accident occurred during civil twilight with the sun 3.4 degrees below the horizon.
Overview
According to the pilot's statement, after taking off from an adjacent airstrip, he overflew the fields to be sprayed to check for obstacles. He then descended to begin the first swath run. At the end of the second field, the aircraft collided with a power line that the pilot said he did not see during the overflight. The pilot reported that the aircraft subsequently went out of control and collided with the ground.
Environmental Conditions
Using a Safety Board computer program, the position of the sun was calculated for the date, location, and time of the accident. The sun was 3.4 degrees below the horizon on a magnetic azimuth of 048.9 degrees. The accident occurred during the hours of civil twilight.