ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 62628
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| Date: | Friday 28 February 1969 |
| Time: | c. 0650 |
| Type: |  Cessna A188 Agwagon |
| Owner/operator: | Rural Air Services Ltd |
| Registration: | ZK-CON |
| MSN: | A188-00024 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Okau, Taranaki -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Agricultural |
| Departure airport: | Farm airstrip |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
The aircraft was on its third 7-minute sortie of the day.
The pilot was regarded as being "an experienced and exceptionally competent agricultural pilot" with 1,200 flying hours in the Fleet Air Arm in WW2. His total flying time was 11,736 hours of which 1,332 hours were in the Cessna 188, mainly in the accident aircraft ZK-CON.
Investigators, after hearing the evidence of an eyewitness in the area and discussion with a local ag. pilot concluded that the accident pilot had been "ridge riding" along a ridgeline that led to the sowing area. This use of any breeze blowing up a slope in order to gain height was an accepted practise.
When approaching a spur that ran off the main ridge the aircraft had made a tight turn to the right and entered an incipient spin, crashing in trees on a steep slope of the spur.
It appeared that at almost the last moment the pilot had initiated the dumping of the 15 hundredweight ( 1,680 pounds/ 762 kilograms ) of granulated superphosphate in the hopper.
The aircraft was wrecked by the impact and the pilot was killed. There was no fire.
An examination of the airframe and engine found no defects apart from a fracture in the throttle bell crank, Cessna part no.0750163-1.
This failure would have caused the engine to immediately go to idling power.
It would appear that as the aircraft flew along the face of the ridge with a spur looming up ahead, the engine suddenly lost nearly all power due to the failure of the throttle bell crank, causing the pilot to put the aircraft into a steep right turn in order to avoid the spur and make a forced landing in a valley in that direction. In the course of the turn control was lost and the Cessna crashed.
The accident report concludes : "2.2.2. Probable cause : The accident was probably caused by irretrievable loss of control incurred through stalling in a steep turn following loss of engine power suspected as being due to failure of the throttle bell crank."
Frederick Ernest Ewings.
R.I.P.
Sources:
http://archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewEntity.do?code=7333\\r\\nAir Accident Report No. 1962.
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 22-May-2009 12:58 | XLerate | Added |
| 22-Dec-2010 05:48 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Total occupants, Phase, Nature, Damage, Narrative] |
| 22-May-2011 23:03 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Aircraft type] |
| 22-May-2011 23:59 | angels one five | Updated [Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 24-May-2011 22:40 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 16-May-2013 11:34 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 23-Oct-2013 23:52 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 26-Sep-2021 10:08 | Ron Averes | Updated [Cn] |
| 30-Sep-2021 08:13 | Ron Averes | Updated [Operator] |
| 30-Jan-2022 11:44 | Ron Averes | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn] |
| 18-Feb-2022 18:03 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
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