On 7 May 2005, a Fairchild Aircraft Inc. SA227-DC Metro 23
aircraft, registered VH-TFU, with two pilots and 13 passengers, was
being operated by Transair on an instrument flight rules regular
public transport service from Bamaga to Cairns, with an
intermediate stop at Lockhart River, Queensland. At 1143:39 Eastern
Standard Time, the aircraft impacted terrain in the Iron Range
National Park on the north-western slope of South Pap, a heavily
timbered ridge, approximately 11 km north-west of the Lockhart
River aerodrome. At the time of the accident, the crew was
conducting an area navigation global navigation satellite system
(RNAV (GNSS)) nonprecision approach to runway 12. The aircraft was
destroyed by the impact forces and an intense, fuel-fed,
post-impact fire. There were no survivors.
The accident was almost certainly the result of controlled
flight into terrain, that is, an airworthy aircraft under the
control of the flight crew was flown unintentionally into terrain,
probably with no prior awareness by the crew of the aircraft's
proximity to terrain. The investigation report identifies a range
of contributing and other safety factors relating to the crew of
the aircraft, Transair's processes, regulatory oversight of
Transair by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, and RNAV (GNSS)
approach design and chart presentation. It also details safety
action taken by various agencies to address the identified safety
issues, and includes safety recommendations relating to those
safety issues that had not been addressed by relevant agencies at
the time of publication of this report.
Download report appendices [
PDF 12.97mb]
Download Appendix A animation [
4.41mb .isv]
An animation was prepared using Insight Animation™ software and
is part of this report. A file containing the animation in Insight
View™ format (.isv) is available for download from the ATSB
website. This file requires the installation of an Insight Viewer
that can be downloaded from www.flightscape.com/products/view.php
at no charge.
Due to the large file size of this report CD-Roms and
hard-copies are available from the ATSB, to order email ATSBInfo@atsb.gov.au or
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Recommendations
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Download final report [
PDF: 7.4MB]