Fletcher FU-24

An aerial topdressing operation was being carried out from an airstrip near Otangiwai. The sowing area was on an adjacent farm property. The pilot commenced sowing over the higher ground in the area, but as the morning progressed turbulence became significant in the lee of the hills and the highly experienced pilot ( 10,898 flying hours ) decided to turn his attention to the lower part of the farm. Accordingly a sortie was carried out over the northeastern corner of the property. At 10:20 the pilot took off to make another series of sowing runs over the same area. The Fletcher did not come back from this sortie and at about 11:00 the wreckage of ZK-DUI was found. Fire had not occurred.The pilot was dead. The crash site was on a level river flat.The aircraft had dived into the ground at an angle of at least 60 degrees to the horizontal and probably near vertically. The propeller was separated from the engine and buried 1 metre in the soil. Compression damage had severed the fuselage at the middle of the cockpit and the remainder of the aircraft had rebounded and came to rest on the main wheels some 8 metres from the forward fuselage. The rear fuselage was folded in half behind the wing. No fertilizer was in the hopper and there was none in the vicinity of the wreck.The left outer wing panel was found about 100 metres from the rest of the plane. Its leading edge section was missing. Cable marks showed that the LE section had been sheared off from the main spar by a wire cable. The investigation found that the aircraft had collided in flight with a single 11,000 volt conductor, or wire, at roughly the center of the 500 metre span between two poles. The collision was at a height of about 220 feet AGL and about 600 metres from the crash site. The wire was strung across the valley as part of a 4-kilometre-long electrical supply line installed by the local power authority only about five weeks before.

Crashed in unknown circumstances in Yass while engaged in a crop spraying mission. The pilot, sole on board, was injured.

The single engine airplane departed Kaitaia at 1134LT being ferried to Whangarei. En route, the pilot made a low pass over his parent's house located in the Mataraua Valley then completed a 360° probably to gain height when the airplane crashed in the bush about 8 miles southwest of Kaikohe. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot, sole on board, was killed.

Crashed in unknown circumstances while engaged in a local spraying mission. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot was injured.

Crashed in unknown circumstances in a field located few km north of Carterton while completing a local crop spraying mission. The pilot, sole on board, was killed.

The pilot commenced work that day at 07:30, flying to an airstrip from where topdressing operations were to be carried out. At about 08:30 he took off on a survey flight accompanied by the lessee of the property. The passenger pointed out to the pilot the location of a 220 kilovolt power transmission line consisting of six conductor wires that ran above the eastern section of the farm, the area to be topdressed. The pilot then used the airstrip to finish a sowing operation on another farm. On the completion of that task the pilot turned his attention to topdressing the area he had surveyed some three hours earlier. With the aircraft refueled he took off to make his first runs. ZK-CPN did not return from this flight. Two men working on a fence line saw the aircraft approaching from the direction of the airstrip. It passed out of their sight behind a large knoll, but they could tell from the sound of the motor that it was making sowing runs. The Fletcher then came back into view banking steeply and turning right. The men saw " something white " fall from the plane just before it dived into the ground. Rushing to the crash scene they found the wreckage of ZK-CPN lying upside down in a creek. Fire had not broken out.There was no sign of life. The pair set off at once to get assistance.The investigation showed that 1.4 meters of the outboard section of the right wing had been severed from the airframe by one of the lower conductor wires of the high voltage transmission line that ran above the sowing area. Evidence of impact by an aircraft was found on the wire. The RH aileron balance was found some distance away from the severed wing section and had been separated by impact with the wire as well. The aircraft had rolled uncontrollably to the right and dived, crashing inverted and in a near-vertical attitude. This was not a survivable accident. The flying weather at the time was fine with only high cloud. The visibility was estimated as 30 km.

Flying operations commenced at 07:30 a.m. after a delay caused by unfavourable weather. Twenty-seven loads of fertilizer were sown before the pilot and loader driver stopped for a 30-minute break. During this break the plane was refueled to capacity. After the break the pilot instructed the loader driver to put the same load in the hopper as before and then started his take off from the sloping airstrip. A witness thought the aircraft was taking longer to get off the ground than it had earlier. The loader driver looked up to see the plane in a left hand turn at a height of 30 to 40 feet just off the end of the strip and "porpoising". The angle of bank was then seen to increase to beyond vertical, and the plane crashed in an inverted attitude on the far side of a nearby gully. It was destroyed by impact and an intense fire and the pilot, sole on board, was killed. This was not a survivable accident.

Crashed in unknown circumstances near Kakatahi. The pilot, sole on board, was killed.

Crashed in unknown circumstances in the Kaikou River Valley, in the region of Pipiwai. The pilot, sole on board, was injured.

Crashed in Lahore while on a delivery flight. Occupant's fate unknown.