19990322002559A

Crashed into hillside, burned. (.19) on March 22, 1999, at 1330 central standard time, a Cessna A188B, N5706G, piloted by a commercial pilot, was destroyed on impact with terrain near Atwood, Kansas. The pilot sustained fatal injuries in the accident. The 14 CFR 137 aerial application flight was not operating on a flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The flight originated from Atwood-Rawlins county city-county airport near Atwood, Kansas at approximately 1245. A witness stated that the airplane made "quite a few passes" at an altitude of 20-30 feet above ground level while spraying for worms at a 20-30 acre alfalfa field. The witness further stated that upon reaching the end of the field, the aircraft would pitch up, bank, reverse direction and then begin another pass. During the last reversal, the witness reported that the aircraft turned towards the right heading on a northwesterly direction when it went behind a row of trees. He said a puff of smoke came up and he went to see what happened. When he arrived at the scene, he stated the cockpit was on fire and that there was black smoke. An on scene inspection of the airplane there was continuity of all flight control connections. An engine inspection found no evidence of preimpact malfunctions. An autopsy was conducted and toxicological samples take for evaluation. (-23) right wing tip struck trees while a/c in approx. 45 degree bank during agricultural spray operation. A/c yawed to the right, crashed and struck two trees, one three rupturing each fuel tank. Fire ensued. Pilot killed. (.4) a witness saw the accident airplane descend behind a tree line during aerial spraying operations and then saw smoke come up from behind the trees. The tree line was inspected and found to have impact marks and cuts. The airplane impacted terrain 130 degrees from and 300 feet from the initial tree impact. The airplane caught on fire and burned. The pilot was fatally injured.