AG Plane Hits Tower, Burns - Pilot OK.

[The Old Fogducker]

Here is a series of well documented pictures regarding a tower strike approx 50 Km south of Saskatoon.

The pilot must have felt pretty fortunate to have gotten out just before the machine caught fire.

The tower was a microwave relay tower for wireless internet and TV services.

The internet company have some very detailed pix of the tower damage on their site. Here's the link to their excellent on-line gallery http://www.yourlink.ca/elstow/index.htm#4

Here's the Saskatoon Star Phoenix story ....

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/surv ... story.html

A 34-year-old crop dust pilot is “lucky to be alive” after his plane crashed and burned near Elstow after it was ensnared Tuesday night in the steel wires of a transmission tower.

RCMP and the Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash of the blue and yellow crop-duster plane, owned by Eley Air Services Ltd. of Colonsay, on a farm southwest of Elstow, a small town 50 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon.

The skeleton of the charred plane remained surrounded Wednesday by police tape in a canola field, with a trail of guy wires from the tower across a grid road 150 metres away. The wires wrapped around the plane while pieces of the plane’s body were spread through the field. Around half of the 600-foot tall transmission tower snapped off and toppled to the ground as the plane crashed.

Debra Stobbe, who lives nearby, said she heard the “crack” of the plane clipping the wires around 7 p.m. and witnessed the transmission tower tumble to the ground.

“I said to my daughter, ‘Call 9-1-1,’ ” Stobbe said.

“From the sound there was no doubt he’d hit the (wires). As I’m talking to dispatch I’m literally watching the tower crumble and come down and I could see the puff of dirt of him crashing to the ground and immediately the black smoke. (Emergency) dispatch was asking me if I’m going to the site and I said, ‘I can’t, there’s no way he’s alive.’ ”

The pilot, Daniel Eley of Colonsay, managed to escape the burning plane.

A nurse had rushed to the scene after witnessing it from nearby Highway 16. According to Stobbe, the nurse from Viscount encountered Eley walking down the road and asked him “Where’s the pilot?”

“He said to her, ‘I’m the pilot,’ “Stobbe said.

Stobbe’s 16-year-old daughter, Ali, ran to the crash followed by her mother.

“She ran back and said ‘Mom, he’s alive, they’re bringing him to the house.’ ”

Paramedics from MD Ambulance arrived at the house around 7:15 p.m.. Eley was transported to Royal University Hospital with minor injuries. According to family, he was released from hospital Tuesday night with “superficial injuries” and was back at work Wednesday.

“He’s very lucky,” said Eley’s father.

A spokesperson for Yourlink Inc., a high-speed Internet and television provider, says the plane hit one of the company’s 600-foot tall towers before it crash landed.

Television service provided by Yourlink in Elstow, Vanscoy, Perdue, Sonningdale, Denholm, Springwater, Stranraer, Wilkie, Wilbert and Waseca was down after the incident. Internet service to Elstow, Blackstrap and Dundurn was also down. Web service for Blackstrap and Dundurn could be restored as soon as Wednesday, but it may take until next week in Elstow, said a company spokesperson. The company says it is looking into “multiple options” to restore services.

Stobbe, a yoga instructor, says she remains in a state of “shock” at witnessing the crash.

“I’m trying to focus on the good outcome,” she said.

“I can still feel that my nervous system is still quite rattled. To walk away ... that’s just amazing.”

dhutton@thestarphoenix.com

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/survives+ ... z1RNmYvSaJ

[sky's the limit]

So glad this turned out Ok, stay safe out there.

stl

[Rudder Bug]

So glad this turned out Ok, stay safe out there.

stl

+1

The aircraft looks a Trush. Amazing design as far as crash survivability is concerned!

RB

[culver10]

Air Tractor 401 http://www.airtractor.com/at-401b They are built with a roll cage around the pilot, VERY safe airplane.

[bigsky]

Air Tractor 401 http://www.airtractor.com/at-401b They are built with a roll cage around the pilot, VERY safe airplane.

This CADORS report said it was a Thrush
http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur/2/c ... pe=0&narr=

"C-GGUZ, an Ayres S2R owned by Eley Air Service"

[culver10]

yup, it sure is a Thrush. All of the Thrushes that I have been around had the fabric tail braced from the top and bottom. I saw the aluminum tail braced only from the bottom and assumed it was an Air Tractor.