Pitts S-2A, VH-DAF, Floraville Station, Queensland

A mains power failure affected several properties along the Leichhardt River. The Far North Queensland Electricity Board (FNQEB) chartered a helicopter to conduct an aerial patrol along the affected power line. At about 1530 the pilot of the helicopter found a break in a single wire earth return (SWER) line to Floraville station homestead where it crossed the Leichhardt River. Debris, later identified as parts of a Pitts Special aircraft, was found downstream from the break. A 280 m span aligned 080/260 degrees M had been breached. The broken ends were flung into trees on the banks of the river.

Several days later, the wreckage of the aircraft was located by police divers. It had come to rest upside down in about 6 m of water, approximately 160 m downstream from and north of the wire strike.