Piper Aircraft Corp PA-36-375, VH-HSQ

The pilot of a Piper Pawnee Brave had undertaken to spray an
extensive area of land with a herbicide. He commenced operations at
around daybreak, departing from his base with a load of chemicals.
After that trip, and for the rest of the day, he operated from an
airstrip on a property closer to the spray area.

The strip was a private access road that had been upgraded for a
length of 800 m to serve as an airstrip. It ran perpendicular to a
north-south sealed public road. Adjacent to the sealed road, and
running parallel to it, was a powerline about 5 m high. The western
end of the airstrip was about 50 m from the powerline. There were
no signs on the road to warn motorists that low flying aircraft may
be operating from the strip and crossing the road at low level. On
each flight the pilot was landing the aircraft towards the east and
taking off towards the west.

Because of its weight, the aircraft was flown under the
powerline during most takeoffs. Prior to commencing each takeoff,
the pilot checked for traffic on the road. From the cockpit he had
a view of the road for about one kilometre in each direction. The
pilot commented that he had to wait for traffic on a number of
occasions during the day. He reported that because of fatigue and
the low sun angle during the accident flight, he did not notice a
vehicle travelling south. Just after becoming airborne the pilot
saw the car but was unable to take avoiding action.

The left main wheel of the aircraft collided with the front left
corner of the car's cabin and ran across its roof before breaking
off and coming to rest in an adjacent paddock. The pilot considered
that the aircraft was operating normally so he continued with the
intended spraying operation and then returned to his home base for
a landing. He provided no explanation as to why he did not report
the accident immediately.

The driver of the car stated that she saw the aircraft just
prior to the impact but was unable to take avoiding action. A
passenger in the front seat received lacerations from the broken
windscreen.