What happened
On an afternoon characterized by clear skies and calm winds, a Fletcher FU24 was performing a standard aerial topdressing mission. An eyewitness positioned at the loading site observed the aircraft executing a routine sowing run before climbing to approximately 150 feet. As the pilot attempted to position the plane for a reciprocal heading, the aircraft entered a medium right-hand turn.
During this maneuver, the nose of the aircraft began to descend, accompanied by an increasing bank angle and a heightened rate of rotation. The aircraft continued into a steepening spiral dive, completing two full rotations before striking the ground. The impact resulted in a massive explosion. At the time of the crash, the engine was still delivering power, and there were no signs that any structural failure had occurred during the flight.
Findings
Investigations into the accident revealed that the pilot was relatively new to agricultural flying, having completed only his first topdressing sortie shortly before the event. While the pilot possessed 281 total flying hours, he had accumulated only 68 hours in the Fletcher FU24 and just 50 hours of specific experience in topdressing operations.
Investigators determined that the primary factor was pilot inexperience, which led to the improper use of flight controls while executing a diving turn. This misuse induced an incipient spin that transitioned into a spiral dive, leaving the pilot with insufficient altitude to recover the aircraft before impact. The accident resulted in 1 fatality.