Cessna 150-L, VH-RAW, 15 km north of Anningie, Northern Territory, on 3 October 1990

Circumstances:

The pilot had been operating the aircraft in an aerial spotting role during a cattle muster in generally flat, scrubby terrain. The ambient air temperature would have reached 40 degrees Celsius at the time the crash occurred. The pilot had completed training for a mustering endorsement but had only recently accumulated sufficient flying hours to qualify for issue of the endorsement. A stockman, located about three kilometres distant, had observed the aircraft flying low and after it had disappeared from his view heard sounds which led him to believe that the aircraft had crashed. The aircraft had impacted the ground in a slightly right wing low, steep nose-down attitude. The pilot was contained within the cockpit which had been reduced to non-survivable dimensions. The observed low level of the aircraft, and cattle tracks approximately one kilometre from the impact site, suggest that the pilot was attempting to "push" the cattle at the time of impact.

Significant Factors:

The following factors were considered relevant to the development of the accident:

1. The pilot was inexperienced.

2. Loss of control at a height insufficient to effect a safe recovery.