ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 193685
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| Date: | Tuesday 23 October 1990 |
| Time: | 12:49 |
| Type: |  Cessna T188C AGhusky |
| Owner/operator: | |
| Registration: | ZK-WAS |
| MSN: | T188-03628T |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | Near Bunnythorpe, Manawatu 2 -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Agricultural |
| Departure airport: | Feilding NZFI |
| Feilding NZFI | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
On the afternoon of 23 October 1990 the owner-pilot of ZK-WAS was fulfilling a contract to apply 2,4-D herbicide on a 400 hectare property about 2 km east of Bunnythorpe.
A number of power transmission lines crossed the general area, converging at the Bunnythorpe substation. One of these 110,000 volt sets of conductors or wires crossed the work area in a 372 meter span oriented northeast/southwest. At the mid-span there was a clearance of about 30 feet between the ground and the nearest conductor. The pilot was familiar with the locality.
On the first sortie of the task the pilot made at least six runs passing under the power wires at about right angles without incident. He then went back to his base at Feilding Aerodrome to reload with a further 600 litres of spray.
On his return to the spraying area he made two uneventful runs, flying under the conductor wires as usual.
On the third run the pilot had to pass over a 45 feet high poplar tree located about 70 meters from the span. After clearing the tree the pilot lowered the nose of his plane to go under the span but as he flew under he felt something snag the tail of the aircraft. The pilot remembered little else of the accident, apart from the plane hitting a tree and going down a bank.
The Cessna had collided with some of the six 12.8 mm diameter conductor wires of the span. One of the wires had contacted the leading edge of the right wing and sliced through both wing and aileron severing the complete outer wing section. The deflection cable running from the top of the cockpit to the tip of the fin failed and as the result a conductor had removed the upper part of the fin and rudder.
After the wire strike the plane veered to the right and hit the ground. It skidded across the brow of a hillside, breaking off the right undercarriage leg and the spray boom. After flattening a fence it went through a belt of trees, slid down to the valley floor, and finally came to rest upright in another belt of trees 370 meters from the transmission span.
The aircraft was seriously damaged, but there is no record of it being written off. It was later exported to Australia.
The pilot suffered a serious back injury in the crash and was hospitalised for sixteen days.
The pilot later expressed his opinion that wake turbulence remaining from the preceding spray run may have contributed to the accident.
Sources:
Air Accident Report No.90-003T.
NZ Register.
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Feb-2017 23:14 | angels one five | Added |
| 17-Feb-2017 23:29 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 09-Mar-2017 13:37 | angels one five | Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 18-May-2018 03:45 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
| 31-Jan-2022 03:51 | Ron Averes | Updated [Cn] |
| 13-Feb-2022 03:00 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
| 15-Sep-2023 06:57 | Ron Averes | Updated [[Location]] |
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