Crop-duster crash kills pilot in Iberia Parish
Subject: Crop-duster crash kills pilot in Iberia Parish
Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 14:03:41 -0400
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of
California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read a 9/6/01 article entitled: Crop-duster crash kills pilot in Iberia Parish
By KEVIN BLANCHARD Acadiana bureau
LYDIA — A crop-duster crashed into a radio tower Wednesday morning, killing the pilot, Iberia Parish Sheriff Sid Hebert said.
The Iberia Parish coroner identified the pilot as Ewald "Wally" Kneibinger, 44, of Jeanerette.
About 10:20 a.m., the crop-duster’s left wing clipped a microwave radio tower along La. 85, east of Lydia, and plunged to the ground, Hebert said.
Men working in a field about a quarter-mile away saw the accident, but no one else was injured, Hebert said.
A witness called the Sheriff’s Office, Hebert said.
The pilot died at the scene, he said.
The plane was registered to Detraz Flying Service of Abbeville, Hebert said.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the accident, FAA spokesman Roland Herwig said.
The pilot was crop-dusting in the area with the chemical Polotta, which is used to spray sugar cane before the grinding season starts, Hebert said.
Damage to the airplane, a 1976 Grumman model, was extensive, Herwig said.
A preliminary autopsy showed the pilot died from multiple blunt trauma, the coroner said.
Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Well Mr. Helliker, The dead pilot may have been intoxicated or "nodding off" like I was as I was driven through your agricultural, fields that smelled of your "registered" POISONS! But, we will never know for sure will we?
Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten
If you would like to be included in our mailing list for continuing information on pesticides, Email Us. with "subscribe" in the subject line.