The aircraft was flown to the training area for revision exercises, which included simulated forced landings. After satisfactorily completing a number of exercises, including one forced landing, the student climbed the aircraft to 3,000 feet where the instructor again closed the throttle to simulate an engine failure. The student selected a field and established a flight pattern for a landing into wind. The instructor states that he believed that the field selected was of marginal length and he decided to allow the approach to continue to below the normal break-off height so that the student could appreciate this fact. Neither pilot observed during descent that two electricity supply lines crossed the flight path at approximately a sixty degree angle. The wires were first seen by the student when about ten feet away and just as the instructor was about to call "go-around". The aircraft struck the wires and came to rest In the field on its landing gear.

On 31st July, 1969 at 1416 hours EST a Cessna 182K aircraft, registered VH-DVN, crashed into the waters of the Burrendong Dam, twelve miles south-east of Wellington, New South Wales. The bodies of two of the four occupants of the aircraft were recovered but the bodies of the other two occupants and the aircraft itself could not be located.

The aircraft was engaged in spraying a defoliant preparation in mature cotton crops. The pilot had flown a total of 4 hours 30 minutes in a tour of duty which began at 0600 hours EST, was interrupted at 1000 hours and began again at 1630 hours when conditions were again suitable for spraying and extended into the night. The pilot completed the area on which he had been working and after the final spraying run, flown on an easterly heading, he began a climbing turn to the right to proceed to the next area, a paddock lg miles to the south west. After switching off the work lights and while manipulating the controls in the turn, the pilot felt a momentary snag of the aileron control and he switched on the cockpit lights and looked down at the floor for possible loose objects. After a few seconds, satisfied that all was in order, he switched off the cockpit lights and attempted to level the aircraft on a southerly heading. Almost immediately, and before he had regained outside visual reference, the aircraft struck the ground, 25 degrees nose down and 5 degrees left wing down on a heading of 120 degrees. The undercarriage collapsed and the aircraft slewed to rest 110 feet from the point of first impact. Fire broke out immediately and the pilot, who was otherwise uninjured, suffered burns while evacuating the aircraft.

The pilot obtained a weather forecast and submitted a flight plan which indicated his intention to conduct the flight under visual flight rules. The forecast details were indicative of visual meteorological conditions existing In the initial stages of the flight and also in the area in which the accident occurred. After passing West Wyalong, the weather deteriorated, and the pilot descended to about 500 feet above ground level to remain beneath the lowering overcast cloud base. The Weddin Mountain Range which lay across the aircraft's track and which rises some 1200 feet above the surrounding flat terrain was obscured by fog and low cloud and, as the pilot approached the range from the west, he was confronted by an area of fog which extended from the cloud base to the ground. Maintaining about 500 feet clearance from the ground, the aircraft penetrated the fog area and soon afterwards the pilot commenced a turn to the left with the intention of regaining visual meteorological conditions. Almost immediately, through a break in the fog, the pilot observed trees on steeply rising ground ahead. He applied power and pulled up sharply, but the aircraft struck trees near the top of the ridge and crashed to the ground.

The aircraft was engaged in spraying an Insecticide solution on a maturing cotton crop varying In height from 2 feet to 4 feet 6 Inches. Operations had begun one hour previously and were to continue into the night with the pilot making easterly and westerly runs working from south to north across the field. The wind was suitable for the operation being mainly light In strength and variable In direction, with an occasional gust to ten knots. Approximately three minutes before last light, with the work lights on, the pilot approached from the west for his third spraying run, over a tree 45 feet in height situated 120 feet back from the edge of the crop. He then descended to begin spraying but the descent was not arrested before the undercarriage entered the crop. Believing the aircraft might not come free from the crop the pilot reduced power to minimise the Impact, but the drag on the aircraft decreased slightly and the pilot applied full power and dumped the load. The aircraft failed to accelerate and sank deeper Into the crop, and the pilot again reduced power. The right wing caught in the crop and the aircraft skidded to the left still decelerating and came to rest pointing 140 degrees to the flight path with the undercarriage collapsed beneath it.

The pilot and an assistant had rigged a launching device which utilized a bungee assembly of motor tyre tubes, and a vehicle and cable to launch a glider over the slope of Big Talbingo Mountain. It was intended that when the glider was released, sustained acceleration was to be obtained by the vehicle and cable moving away from the glider. The weather conditions were favourable with the glider facing into a wind of 10-15 knots. The assistant positioned the vehicle such that the slack in the system was taken up before he spoke to the pilot who was now in the cockpit and who briefed him again on the required procedure. The vehicle was driven away, stretching the bungee assembly, but at a speed too slow to sustain acceleration of the glider after automatic release. The pilot was aware of the situation, but was committed to the launch and when further movement of the vehicle automatically released the cable retaining the glider, the launch commenced and the glider moved forward without continuing to accelerate and rolled over the edge of the clearing. The left wing dropped and the aircraft continued to sink until it struck the rocky cliff face. The launching system, modified from one used previously by the pilot, was untried and the procedures to be used had not been practised.

Before landing, the pilot circled the 2,500 feet landing strip several times to check on surface conditions and decide oh his landing direction. There was no wind and after observing another aircraft make a landing into the south east, the pilot made a left circuit and approached in the same direction. The approach path was steeper than normal and made at a speed in excess of that recommended for approach at the existing aircraft weight. After floating for some distance, the aircraft did not decelerate as quickly as he expected. When he became aware that the aircraft was not going to stop within the confines of the strip he turned to starboard slightly, towards what appeared to be an extension of the strip. It became obvious that this area also was inadequate and the pilot then turned the aircraft to port. As the boundary of the cleared area was reached, and at a speed of some 10 knots, the starboard wheel entered a depression and the undercarriage unit was torn from the aircraft.

While making a turn shortly after commencing to taxy at Brisbane, the captain thought the nosewheel steering' felt slightly stiffer than usual. However, during the subsequent taxying and flapless take-off at Brisbane and the undercarriage extension at Maryborough there were no indications of any abnormality in either the nosewheel steering or undercarriage systems. An approach was made to land on Runway 17 at Maryborough with a light crosswind from the left. The aircraft touched down lightly on the main wheels about 1,200 feet fist the threshold. The nosewheel was lowered onto the runway and ground fine pitch was selected. Almost mediately severe nosewheel shimmy was noticed, accompanied by vibration and noise. The captain applied back pressure to the control column, in order to lighten the weight on the nosewheel, and ordered the first officer to carry out the impact drill. The severe vibration continued, and then, at 3,100 feet beyond the threshold, the downlock mounting lug on the nose undercarriage assembly failed allowing the assembly to pivot rearwards beyond its normal "DOWN" position. The captain applied the brakes as the aircraft continued rolling with the nosewheel pivot bracket and wheel lever fork-end skidding along the runway surface. The aircraft came to a halt 550 feet short of the southern end of the runway. Investigation showed that the nosewheel tyre was in a substantially deflated condition at touchdown and that the tube subsequently became mutilated and bunched in one section of the tyre resulting in an unbalanced nosewheel condition which generated fore and aft loads which were at or near the natural frequency of the nose undercarriage assembly.

Following a signal from the cabin attendant that all was ready for take-off, the pilot applied power and lifted the helicopter Into hover. After a momentary check of power and trim the pilot began to move the aircraft forward along the line of the taxlway towards the runway. At a height of less than 10 feet and with a forward speed of some 5 knots the aircraft engine coughed and lost power. The pilot noticed a drop and fluctuation In engine fuel pressure and the fuel booster pump low pressure warning light Illuminated. He reduced power and landed and as the aircraft touched and rolled forward, ground resonance commenced. The pilot endeavoured to lift the helicopter back Into the air In order to terminate the ground resonance, but this was- unsuccessful owing to the lack of engine power. The severe rocking motion, as ground resonance developed, bounced the aircraft to the left and the pilot then applied the rotor brake. The main rotor blades struck the ground, the undercarriage failed and the helicopter came to rest having rotated more than 180 degrees from Its original heading. The pilot carried out an engine shut down check and he vacated the aircraft through the right hand cockpit window. All the other occupants vacated the aircraft through the main cabin door under the direction of the cabin attendant. Fuel was seen to be pouring from the lower forward section of the fuselage and this Ignited whilst the passengers were still evacuating the cabin, forcing the last persons out to leap through the flames.

The landing strip at Wongrabry Station is 2, 600 feet long and is aligned in approximately an east-west direction. The station homestead is near the eastern end. The aircraft was fitted with dual controls and it is not known which pilot was controlling the aircraft. The aircraft took off into the west and made a partial circuit to the south of the airstrip, approached the strip from the east, passed over the homestead at a height estimated at between 600 and 800 feet and then new parallel with and above the strip. At a point approximately above the western end of the strip the aircraft completed a controlled roll to the left through 360 degrees, recovered and continued westward in level flight. About 1 1/2 miles beyond the strip it zoomed sharply upward into a stall turn type manoeuvre to the left and entered into a steep 70 degree dive. As the dive progressed the speed increased to about 200 knots and the dive angle progressively decreased. When the aircraft was about 200 feet above the ground it had attained a nearly level attitude but was still descending. It passed out of sight of eye witnesses and struck a tree and then the ground.