Don’t rely only on the farmer’s word for where the wires are. And once flying, use that light bar.
In the space of one week during 2025, two agricultural pilots hit wires during spray runs. Fortunately, both accidents were non-fatal1.
Neither pilot, however, was using their light bar – a GPS tracking system that gives visual cues to the pilot as to whether they’re flying in a straight line or not.
The light bar sits in the pilot’s field of vision, allowing them to flick their eyes down for a second or two. Eventually, a pilot will learn to use their peripheral vision to observe the light bar, while still primarily looking straight ahead.
Virtually all agricultural aircraft are installed with a light bar, and an agricultural pilot’s rating requires them to demonstrate competency in the technology.
However, as Pete Gordon – former CAA Aviation Safety Advisor and ag pilot – explains, there are some bad habits creeping in around the use of the tool.
“It does have a bit of a learning curve and some pilots are just giving up. They’re going back to using their screen to tell them where they’ve sprayed.
“In doing that, they take their scan from outside the cockpit to instruments. This raises their risk of hitting a wire.”
Pete says relying on a screen in the cockpit is, firstly, not cost-effective, and even more importantly, it’s far from being risk-free.
“The light bar is not there for decoration and it’s absolutely worth becoming proficient in its use,” he says.
“It may have prevented those two recent wire strikes.”
Pilots’ responsibility to identify the hazard
Chief Flying Instructor at North Otago Aero Club – and a farm safety consultant – Sven Thelning says pilots and farmers have overlapping duties regarding identifying hazards on farms.
“The farmer knows their property best, and, in particular, any changes since the last visit.
“This is best communicated to a pilot through a written system such as a hazard map, and also through an induction to point these hazards out.
“If the farmer doesn’t offer a hazard map, nor an induction, pilots should ask for them.” But Sven says, at the end of the day, the responsibility to identify hazards, including wires, lies with the pilot.
“They’re the one who’s likely to be at the sharp end of the consequences of any impact.”
Pete agrees. “The pilot should be identifying hazards both within the targeted spray area, and also outside it. You’re going to be turning outside the property you’re spraying.
“A pilot should never rely only on another person’s word when they’re being briefed about the hazards in an area.
“Instead, you must go up high and fly around yourself.”
Even under time pressures, agricultural pilots need to maintain that discipline, he says.
“Just get on the phone to the farmer, and say, ‘Sorry mate, I’m going to be an hour late’.”
Manawatū pilot Hallett Griffin, now retired, had 42,000 hours in the agricultural cockpit.
He himself encountered a wire in 2001. Hallett now says he’d never just start spraying on a property, even if he’d been there before.
“I’d never simply swoop in and do the first run,” he says.
“First, you need to vigorously interrogate the farmer as to the existence and location of wires – and other obstacles on the farm.
“This is especially the case for spraying operations that take place at two to five metres above the ground – as opposed to fertiliser spreading at, say, some 20 to 30 metres above the ground.”
Pilots must identify obstacles as per their job map, says Hallett.
“Then, when you arrive overhead the area you’re going to spray, ask yourself, ‘Am I focused on this task?’ If the answer is, ‘No, I’m not focused’, then you remain at 500 feet until you’re sure that you are.
“Overseas studies have shown that headland2 – perimeter – runs, although accounting for only five percent of the overall job, result in some 70 percent of wire strike accidents3.
“So before starting your headland runs, check for obstacles again, because the runs will now be 90 degrees orientated from the previous main runs.
“And a few moments of faltering concentration or an ill-judged turn could result in catastrophe.”
Footnotes
1Since 2014, there’ve been 70 reported wire strike incidents and accidents.
2For non-ag aviators: The spray paddock is usually treated in long, straight runs leaving untreated areas at the end called headlands. After the main passes are complete, additional runs are made across the short sides of the paddock to apply product to these headlands.
3The combination of low-level turns, high workload, and often variable wind conditions make the turns in headland runs very risky.