Collision with terrain Piper PA-23-250, VH-ABX, 4 km north of Merriwa, New South Wales

The aircraft had taken off for a flight of about 2 hours. The pilot was the only occupant. The planned flight had been conducted several times in the past and it was the pilot's habit to fly over a relative's house about 6 km south of the airstrip before setting course and climbing to cruise altitude. On the accident flight, one eyewitness thought the aircraft initially seemed to be flying lower than it had on previous occasions.

Two witnesses about 4 km to the south of the crash site did not see the aircraft but heard its engines. Both of these witnesses reported that the engines sounded normal and that they seemed to be operating at high power. A short time after first hearing the aircraft noise, one witness heard three bangs in quick succession and saw smoke rising in the near distance. When he realised, he could no longer hear the sound of the aircraft, he notified emergency services.

A search was begun immediately, and the crew of a rescue helicopter subsequently sighted the wreckage. The pilot was found to have sustained fatal injuries. The aircraft was not fitted with an Emergency Locator Beacon (ELT).

The weather at the time was reported to be fine, with ceiling and visibility unlimited. Wind was reported as light and variable, and the temperature was about 5 degrees Celsius.

The aircraft had impacted the ground on a ploughed paddock, about 7 km from its take-off point, in a high-speed, shallow angle, right-wing-low attitude. The aircraft was destroyed on impact.

There was no evidence found at the crash site to indicate that the aircraft was other than capable of normal operation at the time of the accident. Because of the nature of the accident, it appeared that the pilot had become incapacitated or distracted shortly after take-off, resulting in an uncommanded descent into the ground. However, no conclusive indications of incapacitation were found during a post-mortem examination of the pilot.