19970708046929A

(-23) At approximately 10:30 EDT, 1430 UTC, on July 8, 1997, the above mentioned aircraft was being flown by capt. blacker delivering granular dry fertilizer to a large acreage plot of planted, row-crop sugar cane. Teh customer was U.S. Sugar, which raises and processes sugar cane in the vicinity of the cities of belle glade/Clewiston near lake okeechobee in southern Florida. The operation was a company operation by air crop care, inc. where the fertilizer is moved from land semi-trailers to the aircraft hopper by tractor loader. Each load is approximately two tons. Random testing by the operator has determined that the two tons has a margin of error of 7% of the 4,000 lbs. The aircraft is certificated for a load of 4,880 lbs of hopper weight at maximum capacity. The two ton tractor load fills the aircraft hopper to capacity and places the aircraft well within maximum gross weight and is within fore and aft center of gravity limits due to the fuselage load location of the hopper. The aircraft was initially fueled at the company's base of operation at the belle glade municipal airport, X-10, before departure to a field site. The aircraft was flown approximately 30 miles to the fielddelivery site. Witnesses stated that the aircraft had delivered five or six loads of fertilizer to the designated cane field in the township plantation of U.S. Sugar before the accident. The field site was one of the plantation's marl roads. The departure was a section of road which was approximately 3,000 feet long. This length gave the aircraft approximately 1,000 feet of runway remaining after rotation. On takeoff the pilot rotated and continued with his takeoff climb to approximately 50' AGL. While in a left turn tocrosswind the pilot reported a partial loss of power and a rough running engine. With the load and the OAT of 92 degrees fahrenheit, the aircraft would no longer fly with the partial power loss. The pilot could not attempt to return to the marl road due to the fact that at the end of the road as it crossed the railroad tracks and was bound on both sides by tall austrailian pine trees, common to the south Florida area. The pilot elected to attempt to land into the cane field which was more or less straight ahead. The initial impact was with the propeller. It struck a railroad switching unit. The upper 4+ feet of the warning post was missing and parts were thrown up TO50 feet left of and approximately 75 to 90 degrees of the aircraft's flight path. The aircraft flew approximately 50 feet across an irrigation canal and impacted with the tail wheel on the northern bank of the canal. The tail wheel separated from the aircraft and came to rest approximately 25 feet from the impact point. The flight path continued into the cane which was approximately eight to ten feet tall. Due to the low-wing design of the M-18, the cane slowed the aircraft immediately. As the aircraft decelerated, it remained upright until almost stopped. The crash dynamics of the cane on the leading edge of the wing caused the tail of the aircraft to continue. The aircraft then nosed over and came to rest upside down. The pilot exited the pilot compartment by breaking out the right side window. He sustained a cut to the tip of his right ring finger. He stated that he could hear the crackle of the post-crash fire and immediately departed to the front of the aircraft and through the swath of mowed cane to the intersection of the marl road and the railroad. The Clewiston fire department was notified immediately through the 911 system by the attending ground crew at the field site. The response. Of the Clewiston fire department was immediate. Due to the proximity of the crash to the town, the post crash fire was limited to the left wing root and left engine/accessory drive areas. The stainless steel construction of the hopper and application apparatus also limited the damage of the fire. The four bladed propeller and forward portion of the engine was heavily impacted with cane debris. The propeller was not recurved. This indicates that the engine was either shutdown or not making power when it struck the ground. Due to post-crash fire melting the left wing root, the left main landing gear mount point and the accessory case of the engine, it has been deemed impractical to attempt to salvage the engine for run and post-crash testing. The left wing root was open and then internal wet wing fuel tank structure was observed. The right wing had fuel remaining and due to the inverted position of the aircraft it could not be drained to determine the volume of fuel remaining in the right wing. By tapping the top of the right wing one could tell that substantial fuel remained in the right wing. The NTSB was notified by inspector jay m. hamilton from the crash site. The NTSB delegated the accident to the FAA for investigation. A post-crash investigation was conducted by inspector's jay m. hamilton, operations, and frank donovan, airworthiness. The aircraft was released to Mr. Don godfrey, president of air crop care, inc. for his disposition and insurance evaluation. Several photos of the crash site were taken by Mr. Godfrey at the direction of inspector's hamilton and donovan. Copies will be made and retained on file with records of this accident at FSDO-17.