The aircraft departed Carnarvon at 1658 WST with an estimated time interval of 67 minutes to Wanna Station and a total endurance of 220 minutes. Last light at Carnarvon was 1807 WST and the pilot based his flight plan on that time which gave a margin of two minutes from estimated time of arrival to last light. Last light at Wanna, which is some 168 miles east north east of Carnarvon was in fact 1801 WST, four minutes before the estimated arrival time. Actual arrival over Wanna was made at 1807 WST and after twice overflying the area, the pilot made an approach to the airstrip, which was without lighting. The aircraft landing lights were used, but the pilot overshot the threshold of the strip and touch down was not effected until within 730 feet of the far end of the 3,500 feet long landing area. The pilot was unable to stop the aircraft in the available length remaining and, when the end of the strip was reached, the aircraft collided with a tree.

During the first circuit of the training period the pilot completed the turn onto base leg of the circuit at about 800-1000 feet and then selected what he believed was the carburettor heat control. He then closed the throttle to make a gliding approach with 8° of flap lowered. At a height of 150 to 100 feet when slightly undershooting the pilot opened the throttle but the engine failed to respond. He then closed and opened the throttle again without result and he checked that the fuel and fuel pump were both selected "ON". Before he could check the carburettor heat, the cabin heat and the mixture controls, all of which are similar in appearance and operation, he was obliged to concentrate on the imminent landing in a paddock short of the strip. The aircraft touched down, bounced over a shallow ditch and then struck a fence and trees. Although the aircraft was substantially damaged, the engine was not damaged and a subsequent examination of it revealed no defect. Ambient conditions were conducive to carburettor icing.

The flight from Esperance to Jandakot was uneventful. At Jandakot the pilot made an approach to runway 24 using 40 degrees of flap and crossed the runway threshold at 65 knots. He commenced to level off and had closed the throttle when the nose wheel contacted the runway heavily before the main wheels. The aircraft was allowed to bounce several times to a maximum height of four feet, before the pilot applied engine power to regain control and he then completed the landing. When the aircraft was examined on the tarmac, the propeller, nosewheel assembly and engine mount were found to be damaged.

In the traffic circuit at Rottnest Island the landing gear was lowered but cockpit indicators showed the starboard undercarriage to be unlocked. The aircraft returned to Perth where an aerial inspection from another aircraft showed that, when cycling the landing gear, the port and nose undercarriages retracted and extended but the starboard undercarriage remained stationary almost fully extended but not locked down. Operation of the emergency, manual landing gear extension system was ineffective in locking down the starboard undercarriage. The aircraft was landed at Perth Airport with 15 of flap extended. The aircraft was gently braked and engines closed down. As the aircraft stopped,the starboard undercarriage collapsed and the aircraft subsided on to the starboard wing tip, flaps and one blade of the starboard propeller.

A farmer requested that a pre-notified weed spraying operation be carried out urgently. The pilot briefed the markers on the swathe width only and gave them a sketch map of the area to be sprayed. When airborne, the pilot found that the markers had taken up position in the wrong paddock. The aircraft was landed back at Farm Hill and instructions given to re-direct the markers. Arriving back at the spraying site the pilot saw one marker in position and commenced his spray run over him. At the other end of the field the farmer, who was an experienced marker, left his utility truck at the end of the paddock and stood in front of it to mark for the runs. As the aircraft, flying with its wheels about 18 inches above the ground approached, the farmer moved rapidly to the right of the flight path. The aircraft continued straight ahead and as it commenced to climb at the end of the run its starboard wheel struck the door of the vehicle. The wheel rim, tyre and tube were dislodged and later, while landing at Kununurra aerodrome, the starboard undercarriage collapsed and further damage occurred.

At approximately 1257 hours GST on 22nd December, 1969, a Cessna 402 aircraft, registered VH-WLC, crashed and caught fire when it struck trees shortly after taking off from Gove, Northern Territory. The pilot, and three passengers, were killed in the accident. A fourth passenger, survived the impact but died soon after he was rescued on 24th December, 1969.

The aircraft, flown by an employee of the operating company with another employee as passenger, was returning to Kingston S. E. from a strip 23 miles to the south east. The weather was cool and clear with a light south easterly breeze. At approximately 0600 hours GST a small single engined aircraft was observed flying very low towards Kingston about three miles west of the direct track from the departure point and at about 1-| miles east of "Binowie" the property on which the accident occurred. The occupants of "Binowie" Homestead, to whom the pilot was well known, heard an aircraft approach from an easterly direction and fly at a low altitude almost directly overhead. Shortly afterwards smoke was noticed and the crashed burning aircraft was seen 300 yards to the south west of the house. The pilot was found lying clear of the aircraft but the passenger was in the burning wreckage. There is evidence that the aircraft struck the ground in a slightly nose down left wing down attitude at a low forward speed and with a very high rate of descent. The heading of the afrcraft was 055 degrees magnetic which, together with the location of the accident, suggests that after flying over the homestead, the aircraft had turned back towards the house. Examination of the wreckage and a strip inspection of the engine did not indicate any condition or malfunction which might have contributed to the accident. The pilot has stated that he has no clear recollection of the latter stages of the flight.

The pilot began his take-off run from a paddock which he had inspected some days earlier. He abandoned the take-off when the nosewheel struck a lime stone block at a point 75 yards along the take-off path and covered by a smooth mound of earth. The pilot then inspected the nosewheel assembly and engine cowlings but did not detect any damage. In fact, the impact had bent the nosewheel rim and trim and had pushed the nosewheel struts slightly rearward distorting the fire-wall and wrinkling the underside of the fuselage. The fuselage distortion displaced the elevator control cable pulleys which resulted in slackening of the elevator cables. As the pilot had detected no damage he then restarted the aircraft, and completed a pre take-off cockpit check, but did not check the flying controls. He took off and climbed to 1,500 feet where, on levelling out, he became aware of abnormal free play in the elevator controls. Without delay he made a safe landing in another paddock. The free play in the elevator controls was found to be 1 1/2 inches at the pilot controls and 5 1/2 inches at the elevator trailing edge.

For the last stage of a flight from Perth to Adelaide, the pilot flight planned for flight from Ceduna to Parafield using night VMC procedures. The area forecasts indicated that the en route weather would include some areas of cloud at a height which would preclude flight at the minimum safe altitude defined by the night VMC requirements. Some rain showers and drizzle were also expected. The pilot nevertheless elected to depart Ceduna at 1805 hours CST for a flight via Cowell and Ardrossan, and encountered last light at approximately 1839 hours Radio communication was established with Ceduna and Adelaide but propagation conditions deteriorated and effective contact with the aircraft was not made after 1852 hours. Witnesses located in areas to the north west of Cleve saw the lights of, and heard an aircraft after 1910 hours. The aircraft was observed on various headings and, at 2025 hours the lights of the aircraft were seen, very low and heading towards the higher ground of the accident site where drizzling rain was falling. The impact of the aircraft with the ground was heard and local residents quickly located the wreckage. The aircraft had flown into the ground in essentially level flight just below the top of a sandy ridge some 950 feet above sea level.

After taxiing towards the south western end of the strip which is 4,000 feet long, the pilot decided he would take off into the south west in light wind conditions. He turned and then taxied to the north eastern end of the strip and after making a fast turn through 180 degrees to avoid a soft boggy area, he commenced take off from a rolling start. The pilot employed a short field take off technique and the aircraft became airborne at approximately 65 knots after a ground roll of some 900 feet. As the speed was approaching 80 knots the pilot selected the landing gear "UP" and almost simultaneously the port engine lost power. The safe speed for take off is 90 knots. The pilot corrected the initial swing to the left which the aircraft developed but he was unable to maintain directional and lateral control and the aircraft struck a sand hill some 2,700 feet from the point where take off commenced and 400 feet to the left of the strip.