What happened
On Wednesday, September 24, 2003, at 17:10, a Cessna 188 B Agtruck, registration F-OHQQ, was performing agricultural spraying of phytosanitary liquids over a banana plantation in Trois-Rivières, Guadeloupe. The pilot, who was also the manager of the aerial work company, was conducting spraying operations in an area where trees reached heights of approximately ten meters.
Witnesses on the ground reported hearing a sudden, loud increase in engine RPM, followed by a loud mechanical explosion and the sound of the aircraft falling. One witness observed the aircraft tilting and appearing to be out of control. The aircraft subsequently crashed into a valley and caught fire.
An examination of the wreckage and debris along the flight path revealed that the aircraft was flying on an east-west trajectory, heading toward the setting sun. The aircraft struck a large, dead grey branch (seven centimeters in diameter) protruding from the canopy of a twenty-meter-tall tree located about thirty meters beyond the edge of the treatment area. Following this initial impact, the aircraft struck an eighteen-meter-tall tree, causing damage to the underside of the left wing. Approximately forty meters later, the aircraft hit a branch of a third tree, losing half of the left wing, before impacting the ground upside down in a valley roughly two hundred meters below the flight path.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the flight path, the condition of the aircraft, and the environmental factors at the time of the accident. Investigators examined the wreckage and found no evidence of mechanical malfunction prior to the first impact with the tree branch.
Investigators also reviewed the company's specific activity manual, which requires reconnaissance flights for missions occurring outside the company's usual working areas, particularly in regions with unique topography or climate. It could not be determined if the pilot had performed a reconnaissance flight for this specific plot, as the manual did not specify a validity period for such reconnaissance missions. The area had not been treated for over seven months.