Kapoli Air

Antonov AN-2

The aircraft commander came at the airstrip at village of Kozlovets at about 09:00 and accepted the aircraft from the aircraft technician, refueled with 400 l gasoline (according the record in monthly book) and after that moved the aircraft to the chemical charge stand, where the aircraft was loaded with 1350 l of chemical (herbicide). According the technician’s information, the first flight started at 09:15. The crew was incomplete. There was no copilot onboard. After the fourth (at 11:00) and after the tenth flight (at 13:30) the aircraft was refueled with 200 l of gasoline. At the airstrip after the 11th flight for AW two outsiders climbed on board with aircraft commander’s permission, who were not crew members and the twelfth flight was performed with them. One person, 11-year schoolboy, took the right-hand seat in the cockpit and the other person stayed upright between the two pilot seats. The aircraft took-off from the temporary airstrip and headed for treatment of an agricultural field, situated behind a height relatively to the place of the temporary airstrip. After the end of spraying of the first plot during the left-hand turn at very low altitude the aircraft collided with the ground in a heading of 310°. As a result of the collision the construction was destroyed, the aircraft turned around the left hand wing to 180° from the flight direction, a spilling of fuel and oil emerged and a fire blow up, which destroyed the fore part of aircraft fuselage. The commander and the person standing between the pilot seats received fatal injuries and the child in the right-hand pilot seat was seriously injured and was hospitalized in the town of Pleven.