What happened
On the morning of 14 December 2008, an aircraft departed from Stratford Aerodrome, intended for a transit flight to a farm airstrip located near Tarata. During the initial climb, the pilot observed an illuminated engine chip detector warning light. Consequently, the flight was diverted to the operator's maintenance facility at Wanganui aerodrome. Upon inspection, an engineer discovered light metallic debris on the engine magnetic plug. After cleaning the plug and refitting it, the aircraft was returned to service with instructions to re-inspect the component after 10 hours of flight time.
The aircraft had been engaged in topdressing operations, spreading lime, since 11 December 2008. On the morning of the accident, the aircraft arrived at the farm airstrip at 0940 hours to continue the task. By the time of the incident, 423 tonnes of the total lime load had been distributed. During the operations, the pilot reported difficulties with the lime not flowing consistently from the hopper. Following a refueling stop at approximately 1145 hours, which left the aircraft with roughly 300 litres of fuel, the pilot performed two additional flights.
During the third flight of the session, the aircraft became airborne at the end of the airstrip but subsequently descended 55 feet below the airstrip level. During this descent, the aft fuselage collided with a fence line. Evidence of lime accumulation along the takeoff path suggested that the pilot had attempted to jettison the load at the end of the runway. After hitting the fence, the aircraft remained in the air for about 450 metres before striking the side of a small hill in a slight nose-down attitude. The aircraft came to a stop 12 metres from the initial impact site. There were no fatalities reported in the accident.
Findings
- The pilot attempted to jettison the lime load at the end of the airstrip, which coincided with the aircraft's descent below the level of the runway.