Spraying (Agricultural)

Crashed in unknown circumstances while performing a local spraying mission. The pilot was injured and the aircraft was written off.

The aircraft took off normally at about 0912 on approximately the twenty-sixth sortie of the morning. It was seen by the loader driver to commence a sowing run, but after a few seconds the flow of mixture from the hopper ceased, and the plane entered a right-hand turn which quickly developed into a steep diving turn before the plane went out of view behind a ridge. The loader driver then heard the sound of an impact. The Fletcher had crashed about 1.75 miles from the Owhakatoro Station airstrip. It was destroyed by impact forces. Fire did not occur. The pilot must have died instantly. Inspection of the crash site indicated that the the plane had first struck the face of the steep slope, at the base of which it came to rest. The right wing tip fitted neatly into the scar mark on the slope and showed that the aircraft had been in a steep bank to the right of 78 degrees. The plane had then pivoted with force into the bed of a swampy gully about 40 feet below. The weather at the time was CAVU with smooth, calm air.

The pilot, sole on board, was engaged in a crop spraying mission in Tilbuster, north of Armidale, New South Wales. He had been spreading superphosphate in a paddock owned by Mr. D. Walker when the airplane went out of control and into a barrel roll. Then the left wing detached and the airplane dove into the ground. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot, Ronald Leslie Gilmour, was killed.

The crew was engaged in a herbicides spraying mission on cultures located in the region of Balakhta. The evening and the night prior to the accident, both pilots drank about five bottles of vodka with three ladies and failed to sleep at their hotel. At 0450LT, they arrived at the aircraft and completed 11 rotations without problems. A pause was made to refill and in forty minutes, they drank three other bottles of vodka before taking off again at 0825LT for a 12th rotation. While flying at an altitude of 100 meters, the airplane's speed decreased and it stalled before crashing in a field located 7 km west of Balakhta. Both pilots and both passengers were killed.

The crew was engaged in spraying mission on behalf of a local sovkhoz located between the villages of Pryutovo and Aksakovo. The night preceding the accident, the crew failed to take a sufficient rest time. Few crop spraying flights were performed in the morning and during the lunch break, the crew drunk a lot of vodka with local farmers and started new rotations in the afternoon with illegal passengers on board. While flying at a height of about 10 to 15 meters, the aircraft banked left to an angle of 50° and crashed in a field. The captain and a passenger were killed while seven other occupants were seriously injured.

The crew was engaged in a spraying mission on local cultures in Rishtan. Following five uneventful rotations over the fields, the crew was ready for a sixth circuit when technical problems were encountered with the spraying equipment. While cruising at a height of about two meters, the attention of the crew was focused on the technical issue and the pilot-in-command failed to see a tree that the aircraft struck with its left wing. Out of control, it crashed into the ground and was destroyed. The copilot was killed and the captain was seriously injured.

The deceased pilot was engaged in sowing operations throughout the morning. On his last run the flow of superphosphate was seen to cease at the appropriate point, but a couple of seconds later the remainder of the load was jettisoned. Almost immediately the aircraft entered a left-hand turn, striking the tops of some sapling pine trees. The plane then lost height, passed through a fence, and after crossing a narrow gully collided with a steep slope. The Fletcher caught fire and the pilot lost his life. The flying weather was good with a light westerly wind which increased to 10-15 mph not long before the accident, and with a change to a northerly direction. The pilot of another aircraft some 5 miles away reported the onset of turbulence in his area from about midday. The pilot, Clement Alan O'Neil, 23, was killed in this aerial topdressing accident.
Source:
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=63150

Th crew was engaged in a local spraying mission for a sovkhoz located in Tynne, in the region of Rivne. In the afternoon, the crew decided to embark six farmers of the sovkhoz for a tour, all of them were intoxicated at that time. Five minutes after takeoff, while at an altitude of 130 meters, the pilot-in-command made a sharp climb, apparently to avoid a chalet when all six passengers who were seating on the floor drifted to the rear of the cabin, causing the CofG to move out of the envelope. In such conditions, the aircraft nosed up sharply, stalled and crashed at high speed in a wheat field. The aircraft was destroyed and all nine occupants were killed.

The crew was engaged in a crop spraying mission on a rice field owned by the Tonkeris kolkhoz. After seven operations completed successfully, the crew prepared an eighth rotation. After a straight-in flight over few hundred yards at low height, the pilot-in-command made a turn to the right when control was lost. The airplane crashed in a field and came to rest upside down. Both pilots were killed.

From 0645LT to 1330LT, the crew completed herbicides spraying mission in the region of Spassk-Dalni and returned to Gayvoron at 1715LT to resupply with 375 kg of pollinisation products. A second resupply with 900 kg was made later and the airplane took off at 2020LT to spray a wheat field. While flying at a height of 6-7 meters, the pilot-in-command made a turn to the left at 45-50° when the left low-wing touched the ground, causing the aircraft to crash in flames. The airplane was destroyed by fire and both pilots were killed.