Aircraft-Planet.com

Pilot lives; plane finished

 

By Chris Brown

AN agricultural plane crashed while trying to land on a small airstrip at Mardan last Tuesday.

The pilot walked away uninjured, but the plane was destroyed.

CFA members were on hand to monitor a fuel leak as the plane lay at the bottom of a hill that acts as a runway.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau had been notified of the incident and was waiting for more information late last week.

It is unlikely they will investigate the crash.

Leading senior constable Jeff Stephens said the accident appeared to have happened about 10.30am.

The plane was operated by Super Planes Pty Ltd of Leongatha.

Director Joe McDonald said the aircraft was trying to get back to the strip loaded with fertilizer and fell short of the air strip.

“It was marginal conditions for the aircraft,” he said.

“To land a loaded aircraft on a marginal strip is a feat in itself.”

The pilot, Darren Martin, was taken to hospital where he was given the all clear.

He had returned to work the next day.

Mr Martin is from South Australia and has been working in South Gippsland for three weeks.

He has previous experience in Tasmania on similar terrain.

Mr McDonald said Mr Martin was a lucky person.

“There’s no doubt about that,” Mr McDonald said.

“We work with a lot of safeguards and we’re all capable of making mistake and we’re not really happy when we do.”

Mr Martin was a very experienced pilot with a class one agricultural rating.

The 1970 Transavia Corp Pty Ltd PL-12 was worth about $70,000-$80,000.

It sustained major damage and will have to be written off.

Owners had it removed from the paddock and took it to a private location.

Super Planes Pty Ltd had owned the plane for three years and used it to spread superphosphate. 

Aerial agricultural businesses operate from about 30 airstrips spread around South Gippsland.

It’s not uncommon for a pilot to land 80 times a day at the height of the fertilizer spreading season.

On an average fertilizing day 30-40 landings are common.

The Mardan airstrip is on Kuhnes Road, which is a short no-through road off Mardan Road.

Mr McDonald said there had been no problems with the airstrip before.

It is one of the better airstrips used by aerial agricultural companies in South Gippsland.

Mr McDonald said there had been different mishaps from time to time.

“It goes with the territory, but they probably haven’t been as bad as this one,” he said.

“We’re always trying to guard against those mishaps and there’s ongoing work to make sure they don’t occur.”

The agricultural aeroplane industry is regulated by five different governing bodies.

“Aircraft has been used over a long period of time in South Gippsland as a safer alternatively for spreading fertilizer and you are going to end up with problems from time to time,” Mr McDonald said.

Police, an ambulance and CFA trucks from Dumbalk, Mirboo North and Leongatha attended the scene.

CFA members

 

Caption

Plane crash: the aerial agriculture fertilizer plane lies at the bottom of a Mardan airstrip after crashing last week.

 

>CHRIS BROWN – journalist
>The Great Southern Star at Leongatha
>P: 03 5662 2294. M: 0417 370 080. F: 03 5662 4350

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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