February 16 2006
A 32-year-old professional crop-duster pilot was killed attending to a bush fire at Mount Ulandra south of Cootamundra in south west NSW
 
The single-seat single-engine aircraft was one of several contracted to help battle a large blaze which had burnt out 2000 hectares of bushland at Mt Ulandra - it's OZ's first fatal accident involving aerial water-bombing aircraft

 
"Some witnesses suggest that the crash might have occurred when the pilot was doing a turn which would indicate, at least possibly, that the aircraft may have stalled or that there had been a malfunction of some kind"
 
Previous News Desk reports in 2005 involving fatal crop-dusting accidents are HERE and HERE