G'day All,
Ag never appealed to me, probably because I've seen too many articles like this one.
Man survives fiery helicopter crash
A CROPDUSTER pilot survived a fiery helicopter crash in northeast Tasmania tonight.
The Bell helicopter plunged to the ground and burst into flames after clipping powerlines at Trenah, southwest of Ringarooma, about 7.30pm (AEDT).
The 45-year-old local pilot freed himself from the burning wreckage, despite serious burns to his upper body.
Sergeant Tony Grincais said witnesses saw the helicopter hit powerlines off Maurice Road before it crashed into a potato paddock.
The aircraft was destroyed.
“The pilot managed to get himself out of the aircraft, he suffered burns to the arms, hands, face and neck, he was taken to the Scottsdale Hospital and is now en route to Launceston General,” Sgt Grincais said.
“He's in a serious but stable condition, his injuries aren't life threatening.”
Sgt Grincais said the pilot was in shock and had yet to be questioned by police.
He said the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) had been notified but a non-fatal crash of this kind was unlikely to be further investigated.
“At this stage, it's not going to be investigated any further by the bureau of air safety,” Sgt Grincais said.
“Their words are that cropdusters hitting power lines are a dime a dozen, they happen all the time.
“There's no safety issues arising from that that would affect the general travelling public.”
Sgt Grincais said the low altitude manoeuvres of cropdusters made them vulnerable to crashes.
“They fly very low so that the chemicals that they're spraying are dispersed evenly over the crop and aren't blown away by the wind.
“How they don't do it (crash) more (often) is probably the applicable question.”
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sto...005961,00.html
Love that last statement....
MPT