What happened
On 9 December 2025, an Ayres Thrush S2R-T34 was being used to conduct agricultural spraying, which involved multiple circuits and landings to pick up and disperse approximately 40 loads.
During landing, before picking up the final load for the day, the pilot observed a vehicle approaching the landing strip towards the loading area. The pilot applied additional braking to avoid a possible collision with the vehicle and the aircraft subsequently veered towards a drainage channel adjacent to the landing strip.
While the pilot monitored the approaching vehicle, the aircraft continued towards the end of the landing strip and the drainage channel. The pilot subsequently attempted to correct the aircraft to remain on the strip however there was insufficient distance and time, and the aircraft entered the channel. There were no injuries to the pilot, and the aircraft was substantially damaged.
Figure 1: Aircraft damage
Source: operator, edited by the ATSB
Safety message
In this occurrence the distraction of the vehicle approaching the landing strip diverted the pilot’s attention from monitoring the landing roll, resulting in a loss of situational awareness.
This type of distraction is more likely to impact performance due to the cognitive demands of one spatial visual scanning task (i.e. monitoring landing roll) being interrupted by another spatial task (i.e. a vehicle moving towards the aircraft’s projected path), particularly during a critical phase of flight where there is very little time to assess the situation.
Concurrent task management depends on the pilot’s ability to effectively prioritise tasks and appropriately time share tasks by rapid switching, whereby attention quickly shifts between tasks. This is essential when the pilot is dealing with multiple tasks, which are all critical to flight safety.
The ability to appropriately prioritise and use rapid switching may be affected by workload and fatigue, which can be a factor during operations involving large numbers of short, similar flights in quick succession. Effective use of rapid switching can also be improved through experience as well as specific task management training.
About this report
Decisions regarding whether to conduct an investigation, and the scope of an investigation, are based on many factors, including the level of safety benefit likely to be obtained from an investigation. For this occurrence, no investigation has been conducted and the ATSB did not verify the accuracy of the information. A brief description has been written using information supplied in the notification and any follow-up information in order to produce a short summary report, and allow for greater industry awareness of potential safety issues and possible safety actions.