Spraying (Agricultural)

The aircraft was engaged in an aerial work operation, spreading superphosphate. On landing after the 35th sortie of the day the pilot reported to his loader driver that the elevator was sticking and tending to jam when the control column was pulled back to near the stop. The loader driver crawled into the rear interior of the fuselage, making a visual check of the elevator cables and pulleys as the pilot operated the elevator control. A small curl of 16-gauge metal, about 1/4 inch high, was found in the lower elevator pulley and removed. The pilot confirmed the operation of the elevator was now satisfactory and flying was resumed. At 10:15 the loader driver noticed that the noise of the aircraft had ceased and looking around saw the Fletcher lying wrecked on the summit of a ridge. The aircraft had dived into the ground at an attitude that was slightly over the vertical. All the wreckage, with the exception of the nose wheel, was confined to the immediate area of the point of impact. A witness mark on the dial of the ASI showed that the impact with the ground had occurred at a speed of 127 mph. There was no fire. The pilot Trevor Robert Wilson was killed.
Source: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=63318

The aircraft was on the take off run when two cattle beasts suddenly appeared from sloping ground on the left of the strip and ran across. The pilot attempted to lift off to avoid a collision and the plane adopted a steep nose-high attitude, with the tail cone hitting the ground, before striking the animals. The impact caused the aircraft's elevators to separate from the airframe. The calculated ground speed at this stage was 71 mph and the aircraft overran the sloping end of the airstrip. It was thought that the pilot, unaware of the loss of the elevators, attempted to continue the take off in order to retrieve the situation, rather than trying to stop in the limited distance available on the sloping runway. The plane appears to have lofted, out of control, for a distance of 264 feet (80 meters) before striking the ground at angle of 70 degrees, and sliding another 66 feet (20 meters). The aircraft was wrecked and a fire broke out in the engine bay and was fed by the gradual discharge of fuel from the fractured outlets of the wing tanks. The loader driver and two others were quickly at the scene and the only fire extinguisher available, a 20-pound (9 kg) foam-type was used in an effort to blanket the pilot, whose leg was trapped, from the flames. Three other persons who had been working nearby arrived and assisted by bringing water from a pond close by. These commendable efforts were insufficient to quell the blaze and the pilot had suffered severe burns before he was finally removed from the wreckage. The pilot William George Jackson Deller died as the result of his injuries.
Source: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=63366

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

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

Crashed in unknown circumstances. Crew fate unknown.

Crashed in unknown circumstances in Taeroa, near Taihape, while completing a crop spraying mission. The pilot George Shirtcliffe was killed in the crash.

Crashed in unknown circumstances while completing a crop spraying mission. Adrian Lee, Chief Pilot of the Company, was killed in the crash.

Loss of control during a routine aerial topdressing flight. The pilot was new to ag. flying having made his first topdressing sortie on the 10th of October, and had logged fifty hours of topdressing in the twenty-two subsequent days before he was killed. His flying time in the FU24 was 68 hours. His total time, dual and solo, was 281 hours. The loader driver saw the aircraft making a normal sowing run and then, climbing to 150 feet, enter a medium turn to the right. It appeared that the pilot was positioning his aircraft for a run on a reciprocal heading. This turn progressed through 90 degrees and then the witness saw the nose begin to drop, accompanied by an increase in both the angle of bank and rate of turn. This unusual attitude so close to the ground caused the loader driver to leave his cab and run in the direction of the plane as it disappeared from his view behind a hill. Another witness, who saw the full sequence of events, said the the plane made two full rotations in its spiral dive before crashing and exploding in flames. The weather was CAVU and calm, ideal conditions. The engine was producing power right up to impact. There was no evidence of structural failure in flight.

The pilot, sole on board, was involved in a crop spraying mission in the region of Putaruru. While cruising at low height, the single engine aircraft struck power cables and crashed in a field 109 meters farther. The airplane was destroyed upon impact and the pilot, Bruce John Oliver, was killed.

Crashed in unknown circumstances in Dargaville while completing a crop spraying mission. The pilot was injured and the aircraft was destroyed.