Factual Information
On March 4, 2017, at approximately 9:30 a.m. local time, a Piper PA-25-235, registration N-8569L, was involved in an accident near Villa Tapia, Province Hermanas Mirabal, Dominican Republic. The aircraft was owned and operated by Superior Aviation S.R.L. and was conducting commercial agricultural spraying operations, applying crop inputs to a banana plantation. The accident occurred during the third flight of the day.
While in flight, the aircraft struck a guy wire belonging to a communications antenna. The impact caused a loss of control, and the aircraft subsequently stalled and crashed. The pilot, the only person on board, died as a result of the accident. The aircraft was destroyed. The antenna and the crop field where the aircraft came to rest were also damaged.
Pilot Information
The pilot was a Dominican national, born on January 24, 1977. He held a multi-engine land airplane rating. His last medical examination was dated July 27, 2016. No flight hour records were available in the investigation.
Aircraft Information
The aircraft was a Piper PA-25-235 Pawnee, serial number 25-4993, manufactured on April 14, 1969. Its last annual inspection was completed on October 26, 2016, and the aircraft had accumulated 1,344.7 total hours. It was powered by a single Lycoming O-540-B2C5 engine (serial L-17166-40A) producing 235 hp, with 1,071.8 hours since new. The propeller was a MacCauley 1A200/FA8452. The aircraft used 100 LL fuel and had fixed conventional landing gear. It was a single-seat aircraft.
Weather Information
The official weather report from the Dominican National Meteorological Office (ONAMET) for the day indicated a pre-frontal trough over the Windward Passage moving east/southeast, combined with northeasterly winds transporting cloud fields. This was expected to cause a slight increase in moisture and light to occasionally moderate rain with wind gusts across several regions, including the area of the accident.
Probable Cause
The Commission Investigadora de Accidentes de Aviación (CIAA) determined that the probable cause of the accident was a loss of control in flight (stall) resulting from the aircraft's collision with a guy wire of a communications antenna.