What happened
On 21 October 2025, a Robinson R22 helicopter with one pilot on board was conducting a private flight from Jimboomba to Southport, Queensland.
Prior to departure, the pilot loaded a box of freight, approximately 1,000 mm long, 350 mm wide and 400 mm deep, weighing 10 kg, onto the passenger seat and secured it by wrapping the seatbelt around the box. The flight departed Jimboomba at 1033 local time with a flight time of approximately 12 minutes.
As the pilot turned onto the base leg for final approach to runway 01 at Southport, the box on the passenger seat shifted and interfered with the cyclic[1] control resulting in the helicopter being unable to turn left. The helicopter then veered to the right and as the pilot focused their attention on moving the box, they lost control of the helicopter which came into contact with trees before colliding with terrain, resulting in substantial damage (Figure 1). The pilot sustained serious injuries in the accident.
Figure 1: Post-impact damage
Source: Queensland Police, annotated by the ATSB
Safety message
Pilots must adhere to CASA Regulation 91.610 (2) (b) Carriage of cargo – unoccupied seats, which states that the cargo, and the means of restraint of the cargo, must not interfere with the safe operation of the aircraft.
The ATSB has had 3 occurrences reported in a 15-year period involving Robinson R22 helicopters carrying cargo on the passenger seat which has interfered with the helicopter’s flight controls. All 3 of these occurrences resulted in a collision with terrain and substantial damage.
About this report
Decisions regarding whether to conduct an investigation, and the scope of an investigation, are based on many factors, including the level of safety benefit likely to be obtained from an investigation. For this occurrence, no investigation has been conducted and the ATSB did not verify the accuracy of the information. A brief description has been written using information supplied in the notification and any follow-up information in order to produce a short summary report, and allow for greater industry awareness of potential safety issues and possible safety actions.
[1] Cyclic: a primary helicopter flight control that is similar to an aircraft control column. Cyclic input tilts the main rotor disc, varying the altitude of the helicopter and hence the lateral direction.