Summary
On the afternoon of 5 December 2024, a Turbo Thrush S2R agricultural aircraft (registration 4X-AFB) crashed near Kibbutz Shoval in the Negev region of Israel. The pilot, who was conducting an agricultural spraying operation over a potato field, sustained serious injuries. The aircraft was destroyed.
Flight History
The pilot had completed his agricultural spray pilot training at Telem Company on 3 December 2024 and conducted his first independent spraying flight the following day without incident. On the day of the accident, the pilot arrived at Beer Sheva Airstrip (LLBS) and received a briefing from a company manager. The planned work involved spraying four potato fields with the pesticide Manzidan 80. After completing the third sortie, the aircraft was refueled with 140 gallons of Jet-A1 fuel and loaded with spray material for the fourth and final field.
Weather conditions were fair with a light northwesterly wind. The pilot took off from Beer Sheva Airstrip and flew approximately 16 km north toward the crop field. At around 2:55 PM, as part of preparations for spraying, the pilot performed a pass over the field in a northeast direction, then turned south. According to a witness, this maneuver was likely a wind-check pass using smoke. While turning back toward the field on a northeast heading, the aircraft lost altitude and crashed. A witness notified the company. No evidence of the spray material was found at the accident site.
Injuries and Damage
The pilot, aged 32, held a Commercial Pilot License with an Agricultural Rating and had approximately 750 total flight hours (490 in helicopters, 260 in fixed-wing), including about 18 hours on the Turbo Thrush S2R type. He was seriously injured. No other occupants were on board. The aircraft was destroyed. No other damage was reported.
Aircraft Information
The aircraft was a Rockwell Int. (Ayres Corp) S2R model, serial number 2500R, manufactured in 1978. It was originally equipped with a Pratt & Whitney R-1340 radial engine, but in 2007 the engine was converted to a Pratt & Whitney PT6A-34AG turboprop under STC SA3238WE. The aircraft had a total time since manufacture of 16,173 hours and 40 hours since its last inspection. No discrepancies or open maintenance items were found in the logbook. The propeller was a Hartzell HC-B3TN-3D model. The aircraft was owned and operated by Telem Aviation Ltd.
The investigation was conducted by the Aircraft Safety Investigation Authority Israel (AIAI) for safety purposes only.