Fletcher FU-24

Crashed in unknown circumstances. The pilot was rescued.

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

The airplane took off on the 64th sortie of the day. The loader driver saw the aircraft make a topdressing run along the side of a ridge facing the airstrip. Moments later he saw a cloud of superphosphate dust rising from behind the same ridge. Noticing that the plane's engine noise had ceased the driver ran several hundred yards and found the aircraft had crashed and the pilot appeared to be dead. The Fletcher had been destroyed by impact forces. Fire did not occur. This was not a survivable accident. The position of the accident indicated that the pilot was making a " cleaning up " run across the end of the ridge and while turning steeply to the left through about 270° had the port wing tip strike a spur running off the ridge. The plane pivoted about its wing tip, with the nose impacting the slope heavily and the engine separating from the airframe. The aircraft then dropped about 15 metres in a level attitude into a hollow beyond the spur while travelling backward and coming to rest in a few metres.

The pilot had flown from the farm earlier in the morning before going away for about two hours and then returning. At about 08:00 the property owner saw the plane approaching and making a low run over the airstrip apparently in order to frighten away some cattle obstructing the landing area.. The owner, a pilot himself, had experienced a similar situation before and went move the stock out of the way. He had lost sight of the aircraft for a brief period when he heard a bang and then the plane came back into view, rolling to starboard until inverted, and diving vertically into a hillside and exploding. Ground evidence showed that the Fletcher had struck with its right wing tip a 400 pound ( 180 kg ) cattle beast, killing the animal and dislodging the metal wing tip fairing which was found nearby with its leading edge crushed. Starting a few metres further on a 46 metres long scrape mark was visible on the surface having been made by the exposed end of the outer wing. The aircraft then collided with the corner of a hangar, the outboard end of the right wing contacting the building about 2.5 metres above ground level and 1 metre below the top. This impact caused the separation of the right outer wing panel. The plane, now out of control, cleared the top of another hangar and adjacent tall trees before diving into a hillside, exploding in flames and breaking up as it tumbled down the slope. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot was killed.

Crashed in unknown circumstances in Orakei, in the suburb of Auckland, while engaged in a spraying mission.

Following a power loss the pilot attempted a forced landing on a relatively level hilltop, but during the roll the nosewheel entered a deep depression and was forced rearward and upward into the cockpit floor. Fire broke out in the engine bay immediately thereafter and flashed back into the cockpit as the pilot opened the canopy to escape. The pilot evacuated safely while the aircraft was written off.

Crashed in unknown circumstances near Lake Waihola while on a crop spraying mission. The pilot, sole on board, was killed.

The pilot was engaged in a superphosphate spreading operation over hilly farmland. Just before noon he took off on his 72nd sortie of the day with the usual load of 14 hundredweight in the hopper. On the completion of the first sowing run the aircraft was turned to position it for the next run. As usual this put the plane out of sight to those on the airstrip as it passed behind an intervening spur. At about the time the plane was expected to reappear a loud bang was heard by the crew on the strip, and moments later a column of smoke was seen rising from behind the spur. The aircraft was found wrecked and burning. This was not a survivable crash. Physical evidence at the site showed that the Fletcher had struck the ground with its right wingtip first while banked past the vertical with the fuselage then impacting in a perpendicular attitude. Propeller score marks on the pasture indicated that the engine was developing power at the moment of the crash. The weather was fine and clear with a southwesterly breeze of about 5 knots. Not a cause factor in the accident. The pilot had recently completed an agricultural pilot course and had almost accumulated the fifty hours of supervised productive flying required before being cleared for unsupervised operations.

Late in the afternoon of 30/8/72 two aircraft were conducting an aerial topdressing operation at Clayton Station. One of the pilots observed the other aircraft operating normally. When he looked again moments later he saw smoke and flames on the side of a ridge in the working area. Realizing that there had been an accident he immediately flew back to the airstrip and raised the alarm. ZK-CFQ had struck the ground with its port wingtip while making a 180 degree RH turn within the confines of a valley. Physical evidence showed that the plane was banked at an angle of 68 degrees when the wingtip touched the slope. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and fuel from a ruptured tank ignited completing the destruction. Evidence also showed that the engine was producing high power at the moment of impact. The all-up weight and C of G were found to be well within the permitted limits. The other pilot reported seeing an interruption in the flow of fertilizer in the final sowing run, but there was no sign of a blockage in the hopper outlet. The hopper was empty. The weather was perfect for aerial topdressing, CAVU and still air. An autopsy revealed that the 34-year-old pilot had received no fatal injuries in the impact, but there was evidence of coronary occlusion due to arteriosclerosis heart disease. It was concluded that the pilot had died from a heart attack and traumatic hypoxia. It was not clear if the heart attack occurred before or at the time of impact. It would appear however, from the steep angle of bank so close to the ground, that pilot had become incapacitated and had lost control of his aircraft.
Source: ASN

The aircraft was spreading superphosphate in undulating country to the south of the Wyangala Dam. The section being treated was approximately one mile distant from the strip. The pilot had completed three sorties since commencing operations on the morning of the accident. After the fourth load had been spread, the aircraft was heard returning to the strip when the engine noise suddenly ceased and simultaneously a loud thud was heard by two loader drivers at the strip. The aircraft had crashed in the spreading area, striking the ground in a very steep nose down attitude. There were no witnesses to the flight path of the aircraft immediately prior to the impact and examination of the wreckage did not reveal any malfunction which may have caused or contributed to the accident.