Robinson R44 Raven II crash near Spitsbak Citrus Farm, near Hankey, Eastern Cape, South Africa

The pilot was on his seventh spray load of the morning over a netted citrus orchard, flying at about 30 ft above ground level, when the helicopter struck three 10 kV conductors on the windscreen side. Two cables were severed and the third was thrown up and wrapped around the base of the main rotor mast, jamming the two forward control rods at the lower swash plate. The pilot ran out of cyclic control, the helicopter rolled right, pierced the netting nose down and came to rest on its right side. His helmet prevented head injuries and he suffered a laceration to his lower left leg and minor cuts from the broken windscreen. The Civil Aviation Authority noted that the white netting, the drooping grey unmarked cables, the sloping ground and the low morning sun together made the wires very hard to see, and that the pilot's attention was divided by monitoring the spray reservoir on the right skid.