Wirestrike involving a Piper PA-36-375, VH-XAV, Major Ck, 55 km south-east of Townsville, Queensland, on 28 May 1997

The pilot reported that he was entering the paddock for the final spray run, a clean-up run at right angles to his earlier spray runs. The right wing struck a power line at 40 ft above the ground, and was torn from the aircraft. After a rapid roll to the right the aircraft struck the ground in a semi-inverted attitude. The pilot vacated the aircraft, which did not catch fire.

The power line had been identified by the pilot during his initial inspection of the area. He had flown parallel to the line when spraying the paddock but forgot about it when he commenced the clean-up run. This was the first time the paddock had been sprayed this year, but the pilot had sprayed the area in previous years.

An emergency locator transmitter was carried in the pilot's bag. It was not used during the recovery from the accident.