Waikato Regional Council

The aircraft was engaged in an aerial topdressing operation on a farm near Matamata, sowing a mixture of superphosphate and lime along with some other ingredients. After about two hours of normal operations a break was taken while the farm fertilizer bin was replenished from a truck. This was taken as an opportunity to refuel the aircraft. After the truck had departed the aircraft was loaded with 22 hundredweight ( cwt ) of fertilizer mixture and the 14th flight of the day was commenced. The loader driver lost sight of the plane after it took off and was reloading for the next sortie when he noticed that the fertilizer truck had stopped halfway down the farm road. The truck driver came running back to say that the plane had crashed. The aircraft was found on the side of a gully about 250 metres from the end of the airstrip. It was completely wrecked but there was no fire. This was not a survivable accident. The pilot was killed instantly. Evidence showed that the plane had failed to attain takeoff speed and had lifted off briefly then settled back, striking the rear fuselage heavily against the ground and then running through the fence at the end of the strip in a nose high attitude. It became airborne again colliding with a tree while in a 90-degree bank to the right and dived steeply into the gully. The weather was partly cloudy with a northerly wind of 3 to 5 knots. The visibility was good. Weather does not seem to be a factor.

The aircraft took off on its 13th sowing flight of the morning and headed for the sowing area, about 2 minutes flying time away. It was observed by a farmer working some 1.5 km away from the accident site to make its usual pattern of sowing runs for that morning, that is an initial northerly run over the sowing area during which the major portion of the fertilizer load was dispensed, followed by a RH reversal turn to sow the balance of the load. On this last flight however the witness thought that the northerly run was started further north than the previous ones and the reversal turn was preceded by a steeper climb than usual. The witness then saw the plane descending sharply until it passed from his sight behind intervening terrain. This witness heard the impact. The aircraft was found wrecked by another witness who heard a plane pass right overhead his house, followed by the cessation of engine noise and then the sound of the crash. This witness and another person were able to get to the crash site in just a minute or two and found the plane upright and on its belly but wrecked. There was no fire. The pilot was found still strapped in his seat and unconscious. He had incurred serious head and facial injuries from which he died next day. A pathologist's opinion was that the injuries were fatal. Ground evidence showed that the Fletcher had struck with its right wing a power pole on the boundary of the paddock being sown while descending in a right bank, before pivoting and hitting the ground in a yaw to the right, and in a nose down attitude.
Source: ASN

The pilot, sole on board, was completing a test flight on this first PAC Cresco 08-600 prototype. En route, the pilot lost control of the airplane after the tail detached. The single engine airplane entered a dive and while the pilot was able to parachute to safety, the airplane crashed and was destroyed.

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.

Shortly after takeoff from Whitianga Aerodrome, while in initial climb, the twin engine airplane went out of control, stalled and crashed near the Whitianga beach. The aircraft was destroyed and both occupants were killed. They were completing a delivery flight to Auckland when the accident occurred.

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.

Crashed in unknown circumstances. The pilot was injured and the aircraft was written off.

Crashed in unknown circumstances. The pilot was injured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

While descending to Tauranga Airport in poor weather conditions, the twin engine aircraft struck the slope of Mt Ngatamahinerua located 30 km west of Tauranga Airport. The aircraft was destroyed and all 23 occupants were killed.

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