Spraying (Agricultural)

Crashed in unknown circumstances. Crew fate unknown.

The crew was engaged in a spraying mission on rice fields on behalf of the kolkhoz of Yulovky. Nine minutes after takeoff, while flying at an insufficient height, the crew lost control of the airplane that banked 30° to the left then plunged to the earth and crashed in a canal. The aircraft was destroyed and all three occupants were killed.

The airplane was engaged in a local flight consisting in pesticides spraying on vineyards. On board were one agronomist and one pilot. The mission started at 1505LT and two first missions were completed successfully. During the third circuit, while flying at low height, the pilot attempted to avoid power cables and initiated a evasive manoeuvre when the airplane, at a speed of 163 km/h, struck an electric pylon and crashed in flames. Both occupants were killed.

The crew departed in the early morning the airport of Pampa-Perry Lefors Field to spray grasshoppers on pasture land in the region of Miami, north Texas. While flying at low height in restricted vision, the airplane struck a dirt bank and crashed. Both pilots were seriously injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

While completing a crop spraying mission, the crew encountered technical problems and decided to divert to Rivière-du-Loup Airport for an emergency landing. After touchdown, the airplane was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran, lost its undercarriage and came to rest few dozen meters further. All four crew members escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew started at 0440LT in the morning a crop spraying mission on behalf of the kolkhoz of Abinsk. Fifteen rotations were successively completed until the lunchbreak. At 1820LT, the crew took off for a new series of four rotations. While no problems occurred during the first three rotations, the crew started the fourth rotation at an insufficient altitude. The pilot initiated a sharp turn to the right when the airplane banked right to an angle of 45° then nosed down and crashed in a field at a speed of 180 km/h. The copilot was seriously injured while the captain was killed. The copilot died from his injuries four hours later.

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.

The crew was engaged in a crop spraying mission for the kolkhoz of 'Rodina' located in Dovorets, in the region of Novgorod. After completing 15 rotations, the crew departed for a new spraying flight when, at a height of 20 meters, the single engine airplane struck power cables located 1,600 meters from the village. It crashed 636 metres further and caught fire. Both pilots were seriously injured and evacuated to a local hospital. The copilot died few hours later and the captain a day later.

Crashed in unknown circumstances. Occupant fate unknown.

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.