ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 347250
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| Date: | Friday 15 July 2022 |
| Time: | 09:05 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-25-235 Pawnee |
| Owner/operator: | |
| Registration: | HK-1049 |
| MSN: | 25-2126 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Vereda los Chorros, Trinidad, Casanare -
 Colombia
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Agricultural |
| Departure airport: | La Marota Airstrip |
| La Marota Airstrip | |
| Investigating agency: | Aerocivil |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The Piper PA-25-235 was conducting several crop-spraying flights over rice fields from La Marota airstrip, located near the municipality of Trinidad in the department of Casanare.
During the second flight, they would spray over a plot the pilot was not familiar with. To identify potential hazards, the pilot decided to make a reconnaissance pass and spotted a set of power lines crossing the southern boundary of the field.
On the third pass, the pilot decided to fly below a section of the power lines that was lower, without realizing that the lowered position of the lines was due to a fallen utility pole. In the attempt to clear the lines, the right-wing tip struck the fallen pole.
The pilot lost control of the aircraft, which went into a nosedive, coming to a stop 254 meters ahead. The pilot safely exited the aircraft. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.
The investigation determined that the probable cause of the accident was the collision with a fallen and partially concealed utility pole in the field being sprayed. The pilot failed to notice this obstacle due to deficiencies in flight planning and execution, possibly exacerbated by glare from the sun's reflection on the rice crops.
Contributing factors identified include weaknesses in the implementation of the operator's Safety Management System (SMS), as follows:
- The SMS lacked qualified personnel for effective implementation and monitoring of SMS activities.
- The operator did not have a procedure or operational standard for conducting effective pre-flight inspections to identify hazards in the fields where spraying operations were to be performed.
- The operator had not implemented a reporting program for hazard identification and operational safety risk management.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
Aerocivil
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Oct-2023 13:50 | harro | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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