Collision with terrain involving a Maule M-7-235, VH-AEL, Rose Bay (ALA), New South Wales, on 27 November 1997

The floatplane was on a positioning flight from Broken Bay, north of Sydney, to Gunnamatta Bay, south of Sydney. Arriving in the area, the pilot found the turbulence was too severe to permit a landing and decided to divert to Rose Bay, on Sydney Harbour, until conditions improved.

At Rose Bay the pilot commenced an approach to land in a north-easterly direction, which was directly into wind. An eyewitness reported that just as the aircraft flared, it yawed sharply to the right, the right wing lifted until the left wingtip hit the water and the aircraft cartwheeled, coming to rest inverted. The pilot climbed out of the cockpit unaided and was rescued by the Water Police. He had received minor injuries.

A cold front, with an associated line squall, was passing through the area at about the time of the accident. Ahead of the front, there were strong winds from the north or north-east. Behind the front, the winds were from the south. Thunderstorms had been reported in the Sydney area, but were off the coast at the time of the accident.

A significant factor in this accident was that during the final stages of the landing approach, the aircraft experienced a sudden wind change. The pilot would have had little or no warning that this wind change was about to occur.