An Air Tractor agricultural aircraft struck the ground while its pilot was manoeuvring away from a power pole between two intersecting powerlines, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has found. Its final report, released on November 5, concerns the fatal September 8, 2025 accident near Cummins, South Australia.
Less room between the powerlines
The single-seat AT-802A, registered VH-ODX and operated by Aerotech Australasia, was spraying wheat north of Cummins Town aerodrome. The pilot was the sole occupant and died in the crash.
On the accident pass, the two powerlines were about 240 metres apart, with a supporting pole ahead of the aircraft. The ATSB found that successive spray tracks had brought the aircraft into an area with progressively less room to manoeuvre.
After flying beneath the first line, the pilot turned right to avoid the pole. The aircraft’s right wheel, spray boom, aileron and wingtip contacted the crop and ground. It passed beneath the second line, climbed and rolled inverted before the final impact.
Investigators concluded that the right wing likely stalled during the climb, with insufficient height for recovery. These are findings from the completed investigation, rather than an initial account of a new crash.
Operator changes and the safety lesson
Aerotech amended its operations manual with further guidance for managing spraying hazards. The report says the operator was configuring its fleet with updated GPS equipment and hazard marking and alerts, developing its risk register, and introducing human factors and non-technical skills training.
The ATSB emphasised planning, inspections and assessing closely spaced lines and poles. Different field layouts mean one approach cannot address every wire hazard.
What the evidence does and does not establish
The aircraft’s maintenance release recorded no defects. Investigators could not establish whether fatigue affected the pilot. Toxicology indicated likely cocaine use during the preceding 24 hours, but the ATSB considered direct effects at the accident time unlikely and drew no direct contribution from the drug. That evidence should not be presented as an established cause.
The report records the accident at 1:23 p.m. Australian Central Standard Time, approximately 17 kilometres north of Cummins Town aerodrome. Investigation AO-2025-053 is completed.
Sources: ATSB final report AO-2025-053 and November 5 ATSB announcement. See also Flyzeu’s report on the separate, ongoing Nelson inquiry.
Illustration: an exemplar AT-802A from Figure 6 of the ATSB report, not the accident aircraft. The ATSB removed its registration and added the spray-boom annotation. Photo: Australian Transport Safety Bureau / Commonwealth of Australia, CC BY 4.0. Resized and compressed to WebP.
