Date & Time:
Sep 28, 1999 at 1750 LT
Type of aircraft:
Fletcher FU-24
Operator:
Registration:
ZK-DLS
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Spraying (Agricultural)
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
MSN:
182
YOM:
1973
Country:
New Zealand
Region:
Oceania
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
0
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The aircraft was taking off on the final sowing sortie, after which the pilot was to return to home base. The pilot reported that, on the takeoff roll, the engine appeared to overspeed and that the aircraft failed to get airborne. It subsequently sank into a shallow gully off the end of the strip. After the accident, one propeller blade was found to be free to rotate about its feathering axis. Metallurgical analysis indicated that the pitch change knob on the subject blade failed as the result of ductile overload. A second pitch change knob was also bent and cracked but had not separated from the blade. The overload sustained by the pitch change knobs was determined to have occurred at impact, not in flight. No reason was established for the failure to become airborne.
