Wirestrike

The pilot intended landing in a paddock to inspect the results of recent spraying. He was aware of a power line well beyond the intended landing area. Sheep obstructed all of the paddock but the pilot hesitated in going round. Having temporarily forgotten about the power line, he then saw it too late to climb over and the top of the fin was severed as the aircraft was flown under the wire. The impact jammed the rudder, however the pilot was able to carry out a safe landing in the adjoining paddock.

Circumstances:

It was reported that the aircraft hit a single telephone line while on final approach. The wire was difficult to see, and the poles were hidden in trees. The pilot had not known of the presence of the wire.

The pilot was spraying a potato crop in a paddock which had a power line running along one boundary. Spray runs were conducted at right angles to the wires, and the pilot was flying under the wires on each run. At the end of one run the pilot pulled up, conducted a procedure turn, and was then slightly distracted by noise on his CB radio. While adjusting the squelch on the set, he forgot the presence of the power line and the aircraft struck the wires about 32 feet agl. The aircraft remained under control and the pilot was subsequently able to make a normal landing at his destination strip.

The pilot commenced spraying operations before the ground markers had taken up their positions. As he approached the starting point for the first run he glanced towards the markers to check their progress towards their assigned places. The pilot then looked forward and suddenly realised he had temporarily forgotten the presence of a power line which crossed the paddock. Evasive action was taken, however the top of the rudder struck the wire and was severed. Control of the aircraft was maintained and a safe landing was subsequently made.

While manoeuvring to commence a clean-up spray run parallel to a power line, the helicopter collided with a spur line. A broken section of the cable struck and severed the tail boom, control was lost and the aircraft struck the ground 150 metres beyond the spur line. The pilot was aware of the presence of the spur line and had crossed it on a number of occasions during the operation. He elected to carry out a previously unplanned clean-up run to dispense the remaining chemical and temporarily overlooked the proximity of the wire. There was some evidence to indicate that the pilot was suffering from fatigue at the time of the accident.

Circumstances:

The pilot was conducting a clean-up run on a crop of tomatoes, which involved flying under a main set of power lines and a branch line. He was aware of the positions of both lines. The pilot flew under the branch line and started to pull up when he suddenly saw the main line. He then attempted to go under that line but made contact with the rudder, part of which was torn off by the impact. The pilot advised that he applied full power and full forward stick to try and counter the nose high/slow speed situation. The aircraft was vibrating badly with associated noise coming from the rear. This was later determined to be from the detached portion of rudder attached to the wire deflector cable, flailing in the slipstream and striking the rear fuselage and elevators. Because of this the pilot decided to land straight ahead immediately, however, the landing area subsequently proved to be unsuitable resulting in further damage to the aircraft.

The pilot had sprayed the paddock using a series of runs in an east-west direction, parallel to power lines along the property boundary. He then decided to do a clean-up run in a north-south direction, but forgot about the presence of the power lines. During the pull-up at the end of the run the aircraft flew into the wires and subsequently struck the ground heavily 219 metres further on.

The aircraft was engaged in spraying a cotton crop. The spray runs were being flown into the west in the late afternoon. About three-quarters of the way into the treatment area a power line crossed the swath path at right angles . The line was carried on poles about 300 metres apart, and the aircraft had crossed under or over the line on about 8 occasions. With the sun shining directly into his eyes, the pilot found it difficult to see the markers. While concentrating on lining up the swath run, he temporarily forgot the presence of the power line. The aircraft collided with the cables and subsequently struck the ground in a steep nose-down attitude 57 metres beyond the run of the lines. The pilot sustained serious burn injuries in the post-impact fire which gutted the aircraft.

Following receipt of advice that the aircraft had failed to return from a no-sar, no-details flight, searchers found the wreckage washed up on the edge of a lake. A power line 20 metres above the lake surface and about 1.5 km from the wreckage had been de-braided over a two metre length. The aircraft had struck the power line, which severed the right canard, a section of the right wing and the propeller blades. The aircraft struck the water and the main wreckage floated to the shore of the lake. The investigation did not reveal any fault with the aircraft that could have contributed to the accident and no operational reasons could be found for the aircraft having been flown at low level over the lake.

The pilot reported that during the initial run over a treatment area, the aircraft struck a power line. The wire deflector folded on impact, allowing the wire to slip between the fin and rudder. The mass balance and the top of the rudder were torn off, but the pilot was able to maintain control and carry out a safe landing.