American Aircraft AA-5B, VH-WPY, Mt Warning, New South Wales

The pilot hired the aircraft with the stated intention of conducting practice circuits at Archerfield. When he taxied, he told the Surface Movement Controller that he was proceeding to the (Archerfield) Southern Training Area. The aircraft departed the circuit area at 0927 EST.

At about 0955, a witness near Mt Warning heard an aircraft engine operating at high rpm followed by the sound of impact. Later an aerial search found the fragmented and burnt wreckage of an aircraft at the base of a near vertical cliff on the north face of Mt Warning. The aircraft had impacted head on, near the geometric centre of a large triangular shaped cliff face. The weather at the time was fine with a clear blue sky and light winds.

On the basis of information received concerning the circumstances of this occurrence, the Bureau has discontinued its investigation.