Fatal Crash Wee Waa

[Guest Fred Bear]

Just received news from a mate. Two crop dusters have collided at Wee Waa. One pilot (at this stage) confirmed deceased.

 

Further:

 

One dead in northern NSW mid-air crash

 

Tuesday Feb 26 11:07 AEDT

 

One man is dead following a mid-air collision involving two planes in northern NSW, the Ambulance Service of NSW says.

 

Ambulance paramedics were called to the site of the plane crash 10km north of Wee Waa about 9.45am (AEDT) on Tuesday.

 

One man is confirmed dead, while a 47-year-old man was able to free himself from the wreckage, an ambulance spokeswoman said.

 

The man suffered serious leg and back injuries, she said. Emergency helicopters are en route to the scene.

 

 

[motzartmerv]

another midair...oh dear...another sad day...they are becoming a regular event now days, i hate to say it but more ammo for the ADSB advocits..

 

 

[slartibartfast]

Then you shouldn't say it Merv. These guys were both crop dusting the same paddock. It was hardly a random event, and there's absolutely no chance ADSB would have helped. When turning into the sun at 50 feet onto a preplanned course I don't imagine there's much time to look inside the cockpit to locate another plane you know is there anyway. Nor is the resolution high enough to help identify whether that plane is 100' off course.

 

Very sad to lose another aviator.

 

 

[motzartmerv]

Yea we know that...but "they" will no doubt have a different take on it.. you know what govt red tape is like, the statistics don't show the real story but sadly thats the info they go on when making these descisions..oh and hey, not talking about it isn't going to make it go away starti..

 

cheers

 

 

[Guest Fred Bear]

These crop duster pilots don't give a stuff what is in the cockpit most of the time. They are far too busy trying to see what obstacles are on the ground and around them flying so low so in this case, agreed that ADSB would have been as useful as wings on an emu.

 

 

[motzartmerv]

hey dudes.. i totally agree.. i was just saying that the powers that be won't see it that way..thats all..

 

cheers

 

 

[facthunter]

Facts.

 

Then it's up to us (and others) to stick to the facts and ensure that the" powers" don't get away with a "con" job.. N...

 

 

[poteroo]

For those of us who believe in accidents happening in 3's

 

!st - the Cub - chopper accident in the Gascoyne, WA

 

2nd - the C152 - chopper accident nr Wellington NZ

 

3rd - the 2 Airtractors at Wee Waa,NSW

 

Co-incidence, or is there something in it?

 

 

[Guest Fred Bear]

For those of us who believe in accidents happening in 3's!st - the Cub - chopper accident in the Gascoyne, WA

 

2nd - the C152 - chopper accident nr Wellington NZ

 

3rd - the 2 Airtractors at Wee Waa,NSW

 

Co-incidence, or is there something in it?

Sure is something in it. A stack of dead pilots and even bigger stack of heartbroken families.

 

 

[Guest Fred Bear]

TRAGEDY has struck the small northern town of Wee Waa twice in little over a year, with a second crop-duster pilot dying in a crash.

 

James "Jim" Maria, 60, of Wee Waa, died about 9.45am yesterday in a mid-air collision between his aircraft and another crop-duster.

 

It occurred about 10km north of Wee Waa, while the planes were dusting bean crops grown by prominent local farmer Paul Cahl.

 

Mr Maria worked for Crop-Jet Aviation, which suffered another tragedy in December 2006 when one of its crop-duster pilots died in a crash in the Collarenbri district.

 

The company is owned by a Narrabri local councillor, Conrad Bolton, who could not be contacted yesterday.

 

Narrabri mayor George Sevil said he had spoken to Mr Bolton following the crash.

 

"It's very upsetting for him and the town in general," Mr Sevil said.

 

"It's the second tragedy that he has had within 18 months," he said.

 

He said he had been told that one of the aircraft had gone a "little off course" and clipped the wings of the other.

 

"They just clipped wings," Mr Sevil said yesterday.

 

"The fellow died in the one that crashed and burst into flames."

 

The 47-year-old pilot of the other turbo-prop aircraft - not believed to be operated by Crop-Jet - managed to escape his aircraft, despite suffering a fractured leg and suspected severe back injuries.

 

He was later flown to Tamworth Base Hospital.

 

Locals yesterday described Mr Maria as a popular man.

 

"He was a very nice bloke, a good, hard-working man," said a hotel staff member. "He came into the pub occasionally."

 

The accident will now be the subject of an investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

 

Four ATSB investigators arrived on the scene late yesterday.

 

ATSB spokesman Joe Hattley said all that was known at this stage was that there had been a mid-air collision.

 

Investigators would study the scene and interview the surviving pilot and any other witnesses to try and ascertain how it occurred.

 

Mr Cahl, who did not witness the crash on his property, was the first cotton farmer in Wee Waa but said he had not planted cotton this year because of lack of water and financial viability of the crop.

 

He said he believed one of the aircraft had been making a turn into the sun when the collision occurred.

 

A preliminary ATSB report into the previous crash in December 2006 said the investigation were ongoing into how the plane crashed during a flight to refill its hopper for further spraying.

 

The plane's 45-year-old pilot died.

 

 

[Methusala]

This is not meant to attribute blame, just for the record as they say. Narromine maybe 4 years back I was watching aircraft depart. A Grumman Tiger with 4 POB was starting his takeoff roll when a yellow ,turbine powered agplane flew in at low level and landed on the same strip- opposite direction! Grumman pulled up and had another (successful)go. Probably an isolated and very foolish display of arrogance, yet I and others witnessed this. Don.

 

 

[vk3auu]

I had a similar incident as I was rolling out at the southern end of Rwy 22. Fortunately I was on the right hand side and a croppie took off in the opposite direction past me on the other side. You need to take care on 04 - 22 as their hangar is just off the southern end of 22.

 

David

 

 

[Knighty]

Ag Planes at Narromine

 

When I was learning (still am) how to fly and JUST became solo I backtracked 04 right up to the piano keys on 22 and when I spun around into the wind this darn crop duster was coming straight at me without warning. The pilot would have thought this to be a huge joke to see the whites of a student pilots eyes and especially flying a rag and bones machine, my heart was in my throat. Lots of wot ifs to be considered here however it was not my day nor his thank goodness!

 

Knighty

 

 

[ifr duck]

Crop Dusters

 

I have to make a little comment here.

 

Ever sat in a crop duster? If you have you will have noticed that there is absolutely NO visibility out the front / over the nose whilst on the ground. Next time you take off, imagine NO FORWARD VISIBILITY. These guys rely on a good look from the taxi way prior to turning on the runway. Also because of the precise type of flying they do they tend to get used to very tight margins. (ie 1mt clearance under the power line is fine) So if they miss you by a couple of plane widths they may think nothing of it! Down wind take offs or landings are the norm up to 5+knts depending on the load/strip.They also often forget to turn their radio volume back up for traffic having turned it down to avoid being distracted as they count off the three powerlines they are flying under at dot fee not to mention the chemical crud and bugs on the windscreen, the pressure to finish the job before the wind comes up / it starts raining / the wind changes to the wrong direction / it gets too hot etc etc etc.

 

None of these things are an excuse for bad airmanship which is what has been mentioned here, BUT please try and help these guys by keeping a good lookout for them and understanding the pressures and problems they work with all day, every day, its a crazy profession:hittinghead:.

 

 

[poteroo]

Duck is right about the vis, the pressures and the close proximity aggies will accept to obstacles and other aircraft. Back when super was cheap, and farmers used plenty of it - it wasn't unusual for 3-4 aggies to be lifting off the same strip. Sometimes there were 2 heaps and 2 loaders as well. It meant lots of landing over the departing aircraft ( NB - on ag strips the aircraft on t/o has right-of-way, not the a/c on final).

 

So, if you see an aggie on t/o roll, remember they are loaded to the gunnels, and even though you might have right-of-way according to the regs - it's good airmanship,and common sense, to concede it to the aggie.