Collision with water involving Cessna 210N, VH-RDH, 14 km south-east of Goolwa Airport, South Australia, on 6 February 2026

This preliminary report details factual information established in the investigation’s early evidence collection phase and has been prepared to provide timely information to the industry and public. Preliminary reports contain no analysis or findings, which will be detailed in the investigation’s final report. The information contained in this preliminary report is released in accordance with section 25 of the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003. 

The occurrence

On 6 February 2026, at about 1608 local time, a Cessna 210N, registered VH-RDH, departed from Goolwa Airport, South Australia, with 3 persons on board for a private local area flight. The persons on board comprised a flight instructor in the front right seat, a commercial pilot licence holder in the front left seat and a passenger, who held a recreational pilot licence, in the second row left seat. The purpose of the flight was for the commercial pilot licence holder to accumulate Cessna 210 flying experience. This was conducted under the supervision of the aircraft operator’s head of training and checking, who was the onboard flight instructor.

Air Traffic Control (ATC) radar detected the aircraft at 1609:45 and the ATC system started generating a track for the aircraft at 1609:50 at an uncorrected altitude[1] of 1,100 ft and groundspeed of 93 kt. Calculated barometric altitude[2] started at 1609:58 and recorded the aircraft at 1,275 ft and a groundspeed of 93 kt.[3] Goolwa Airport CTAF[4] recordings captured a runway 19 upwind departure call from the instructor, that they were climbing through 1,000 ft to 1,500 ft and tracking coastal to the east. The departure call was followed by an amendment that the aircraft was climbing to 2,500 ft for smoother air.

ATC radar tracked the aircraft as it followed the coast to the east at about 2,350 ft for about 5 minutes at about 130 kt. The aircraft then commenced a right turn through south to track west along the coast back towards the mouth of the Murray River (Murray Mouth) at about 136 kt. As the aircraft approached Murray Mouth, the altitude increased and reached 3,375 ft at 1620:52. As the aircraft climbed above 3,000 ft the tracking data shifted slightly south (at 1620:17) and the speed reduced to 74 kt while maintaining a westerly track. 

At 1620:57 the aircraft was recorded at an uncorrected altitude of 2,700 ft, still on a westerly track, and the speed had reduced to 66 kt. The ATC system then ceased tracking the aircraft, but it was captured a final time on radar at 1621:05, at an uncorrected altitude of 1,200 ft. Figure 1 depicts the accident flight with 4 data points annotated.

Figure 1: Air traffic control generated track with data points annotated

Airservices Australia generated tracking data for the accident flight with ATSB numbered data points – at data point 2 the aircraft has climbed above 3,000 ft and the track has shifted to the south. Source: Airservices Australia, annotated by the ATSB

A witness located on the west side of Murray Mouth observed the aircraft in a steep descent and used their phone to record the final seconds of the descent. The footage indicated the aircraft was in a left turn spin just prior to colliding with the water in a steep nose down and left-wing low attitude, intact with the landing gear retracted. Several witnesses reported to the ATSB that the engine sounded like it was running until the collision. The 3 occupants were fatally injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

Wreckage inspection

The wreckage was retrieved from the water by South Australia Police prior to the ATSB’s arrival at the site on the afternoon of 7 February 2026. The wreckage was heavily fragmented and missing the engine, propeller, wings, vertical fin and rudder. The main gear was found down and locked and the nose gear retracted. Several seat belts had been cut by emergency services personnel to remove the occupants.

The left front seat was attached to the seat rails and fitted with an inertial reel strap to prevent inadvertent movement in flight. The strap was cut to remove the seat from the aircraft. The front right seat had separated from the seat rails, but the seat lock pins were in the down (locked) position and appeared undamaged. The second row left seat had separated from the floor of the aircraft but was contained within the wreckage. The second row right seat was not fitted. The rear seats (third row) were attached to the airframe.

The elevator control cables were identified, and the elevator trim surface was present and attached to the elevator. The elevator was free to move in the correct sense. Measurements of the elevator trim position were made, and an elevator control cable turnbuckle was removed and, in addition to the aircraft global positioning system unit, retained for further examination.

Further investigation

To date, the ATSB has:

• inspected the wreckage and the departure airport’s fuel supply
• recovered and retained equipment for further examination
• collected records from the aircraft operator and Civil Aviation Safety Authority
• collected air traffic control and airport data
• collected electronic flight bag data
• interviewed witnesses and other Cessna 210 pilots.

The investigation is continuing and will include:

• further interviews
• a review of aircraft operator and Civil Aviation Safety Authority records
• analysis of witness videos, photographs, airport data and interviews
• analysis of data from air traffic control, electronic flight bags and from equipment recovered from the aircraft.

A final report will be released at the conclusion of the investigation. Should a critical safety issue be identified during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify relevant parties so appropriate and timely safety action can be taken. 

Acknowledgements

The ATSB acknowledges the assistance provided by South Australia Police and State Emergency Service personnel.

Purpose of safety investigations The objective of a safety investigation is to enhance transport safety. This is done through:  identifying safety issues and facilitating safety action to address those issues providing information about occurrences and their associated safety factors to facilitate learning within the transport industry. It is not a function of the ATSB to apportion blame or provide a means for determining liability. At the same time, an investigation report must include factual material of sufficient weight to support the analysis and findings. At all times the ATSB endeavours to balance the use of material that could imply adverse comment with the need to properly explain what happened, and why, in a fair and unbiased manner. The ATSB does not investigate for the purpose of taking administrative, regulatory or criminal action. About ATSB reports ATSB investigation reports are organised with regard to international standards or instruments, as applicable, and with ATSB procedures and guidelines. Reports must include factual material of sufficient weight to support the analysis and findings. At all times the ATSB endeavours to balance the use of material that could imply adverse comment with the need to properly explain what happened, and why, in a fair and unbiased manner. An explanation of terminology used in ATSB investigation reports is available here. This includes terms such as occurrence, contributing factor, other factor that increased risk, and safety issue. Publishing information Released in accordance with section 25 of the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003 Published by: Australian Transport Safety Bureau © Commonwealth of Australia 2025   Ownership of intellectual property rights in this publication Unless otherwise noted, copyright (and any other intellectual property rights, if any) in this report publication is owned by the Commonwealth of Australia. Creative Commons licence With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, ATSB logo, and photos and graphics in which a third party holds copyright, this report is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. The CC BY 4.0 licence enables you to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon our material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.  Copyright in material obtained from other agencies, private individuals or organisations, belongs to those agencies, individuals or organisations. Where you wish to use their material, you will need to contact them directly.