Incident Overview
An agricultural aircraft crashed while conducting a spraying operation. The pilot reported that he made two passes to survey the field to be sprayed. On the third pass, he pulled up, executed a shallow left turn, leveled off, and began looking to the right for obstructions. At that point, the aircraft reportedly entered a 10-degree dive.
Pilot Actions
The pilot stated that he reached for the trim and started pulling back on the control stick, but the aircraft continued into a steep dive and subsequently crashed.
Investigation Findings
No mechanical malfunction was found that would account for the reported control problem.