Piper PA36-375, VH-JJA, 15 km W of Moree NSW, 23 July 1990

During a period of low operational activity the pilot was contracted to spray a crop in open, flat terrain. Having almost completed the irregular shaped area, the pilot positioned his aircraft to make a run over a very small corner of the crop, towards a clump of trees, some of which were up to 25 metres high. The pilot mis-judged his turn onto the run alignment, necessitating a steep approach. Once settled at spray height, he was faced with a very steep climb-out to clear a large tree. During the pull-up the aircraft stalled and collided with the tree. The nose pitched down and the aircraft impacted the ground in a near vertical attitude, before rolling inverted. The pilot extinguished a small fire.