Accident at Vicinity of Melfort, SASK

1997-07-31: A Cessna A188B Agcat aircraft was conducting a spray operation 2 miles south and 2 miles east of Melfort, Saskatchewan, when the aircraft apparently struck a power pole, some trees, and came to rest in a creek. The pilot was able to walk away from the wreckage and was taken to hospital. Injuries are undetermined at this time. The aircraft was substantially damaged. TSB UPDATE: The pilot of the Cessna 188 aircraft was spraying an insecticide (Lorsdan) approximately 3 MI SE of the town of Melfort. After completing his third pass, the pilot flew the aircraft under a hydro cable rather than over it as he had done on the previous passes. The aircraft's wire-deflection system contacted, but did not fully deflect the hydro cable over the aircraft's tail section and the pilot lost control of the aircraft and crashed into a slough. The empennage and left wing were torn from the aircraft during the accident sequence. The pilot received serious injuries and was hospitalized for observation and care. During this investigation, the transportation safety board became aware that there are several different designs for rear-fitting of the aircraft's wire deflection system. The most recent design is a new product (P/N 1631018) which is being made available by the Cessna aircraft company as part of its ongoing product improvement effort. That newly-designed fitting (P/N 1631018) appears to be significantly improved over previous design and may provide increased protection over a wide range of impact conditions. The following engineering branch report was completed: LP 131/194.