During the landing roll the right wheel brake failed to function. The pilot was unable to maintain directional control, resulting in a ground loop, during which slight damage to the left landing gear strut and right wingtip occurred.

Air in the right brake line rendered the right brake ineffective. It was not determined how the air was admitted to the system as no maintenance had been performed on the system since the aircraft had been delivered from the factory.

The pilot of the first aircraft in the sequence, from Australian Airlines, requested direct track from over Devonport to Hobart on the 320 radial. On co-ord with Hobart Air Traffic Control approval given for this and a second aircraft, this one from Ansett Airlines, to also track direct. The Sector 3 controller passed the clearance to the first aircraft but forgot to pass it to the second one. The second aircraft arrived in the Hobart area on the 301 radial, which was the original planned route, instead of the 320 radial as expected. No loss of separation occurred.

The pilot inspected part of strip 17 and found it to be dry and firm. He took off on sealed strip 08. Later he landed on 17. Near the end of the landing roll the main wheels sank in a softer area and the aircraft overturned. This happened in an area the pilot had not checked on his inspection.

VH-EPQ was cleared into the Richmond Control Zone on track to Riverstone, not above 500 feet on QNH. VH-EPQ was observed by the control tower supervisor proceeding north of Riverstone. When challenged by the tower controller, he reported 2 nautical miles (nm) south of Oakville. VH-EPQ proceeded to Oakville from Riverstone without a clearance, breaking down separation with Stal Thunder One on Tacan One final. No Holding instructions were given to VH-EPQ by the tower. The pilot of VH-EPQ was contacted and he said that he had complied with the terms of his clearance and that at no time was he anywhere near the C130 which he saw about 2000 feet above and one and a half to two miles away.

The Police rescue helicopter was being flown for the purpose of conducting the search for and rescue of a seriously injured rock fisherman in the MacMasters Beach area, south of Terrigal. It departed Bankstown at about 0555 ESuT and arrived at the command post at Little Beach at about 0620. Shortly after, a paramedic was embarked and a search initiated. The injured person was located about 650 metres south of the command post.

The helicopter was flown back to Little Beach, where a crewmember disembarked and returned to the location of the injured person. It then was landed on a nearby rock ledge near the water's edge, where both the paramedic and the observer left the helicopter to assist the fisherman. The helicopter then took off and moved away to minimise noise and rotor wash in the immediate area. The pilot reported that at that time the wind was calm, the visibility unlimited, and there was some wave action against the lower of two rock shelves. He asked the ground party by radio if a 'Stokes' litter was required for the retrieval of the fisherman but was advised by the paramedic that this would be unnecessary as the fisherman could be carried down to the rock shelf, close to the original landing point.

The helicopter was brought to a low hover to allow the patient and observer to board. After receiving a clearance to depart from the paramedic, who remained on the ground, the pilot commenced a take-off. At a skid height of about 12 ft above the rock shelf, the entire aircraft was engulfed by a very large wave. The take-off was aborted, and the helicopter was stabilised in a hover. Almost immediately, it was struck by a second wave, resulting in a double engine flameout. The helicopter was landed on the rock shelf, where it was then struck by a third wave, which rolled it onto its side and forced it against a low rock face. After the helicopter had come to rest, all three persons on board were able to escape, assisted by the paramedic.

The pilot reported that the sea state then returned to its original, relative calm. However, after a further 80 minutes, another series of very large waves struck the helicopter, resulting in further damage.

Significant Factors

1. Deceptive sea state.

2. Desirability of rescuing injured person with minimum delay.

Melbourne air traffic control received co-ordination details on Air New Zealand Flight NZ114 from Perth air traffic control. This indicated the route shown on the flight progress strips held in Melbourne was different to tracking details co-ordinated from Perth. It was discovered that the Computer Aided Strip Printing System (CASPS), which automatically prints flight progress strips from the flight plan had made an error. This was partly due to a complicated route description in the plan message and a software error in the CASPS system. The strips should have been checked by the flight data officer against the flight plan. The error was not detected by the flight data officer.

The aircraft was conducting joy-flights near a Rock Festival. The pilot aborted a take-off attempt when it became clear to him that he would not obtain translational lift in time to clear trees at the end of the selected take-off area. He chose to air-taxi to a more suitable pad. To get to the pad, he had to air-taxi between two large trees. Whilst passing between the trees the pilot concentrated on rotor clearance and did not notice a wind gust which moved the aircraft towards the tree on the left. The main rotor hit a branch, forcing the pilot to take immediate recovery action. The aircraft landed heavily.

The aircraft struck an obstacle during an attempted forced landing.

Inspection found that the engine had stopped when the fuel on board had been exhausted after 40 minutes flying. The pilot reported that the tanks were half full prior to departure. This should have been sufficient fuel for about two and a half hours flying. No evidence was found of any fuel leaks.

The Partenavia was being flown from Essendon to Sydney. During the final stage of the flight the aircraft was radar vectored for an approach and landing on runway 34, which was accomplished normally.

After landing, the aircraft vacated left into taxiway 'Alpha' and contacted Surface Movement Control (SMC), which cleared the aircraft to cross runway 34 via taxiway 'Hotel' and hold short of runway 07. Although this was acknowledged by the pilot, the aircraft continued past the holding point on taxiway 'Charlie' and infringed the runway 07 flight strip, despite being queried by SMC. When the pilot of the Partenavia recognised the aircraft had entered the flight strip he immediately carried out a 180 degree turn to vacate, during which the runway surface itself was slightly infringed.

In the meantime, a Boeing 737, VH-TJO, which had been cleared to take-off on runway 07, was instructed by the Aerodrome Controller (ADC) to stop immediately. This was accomplished safely from a reported speed of 100 knots. The aircraft was able to vacate the runway via taxiway 'Charlie'.

After touchdown, the pilot observed two kangaroos run onto the runway. He was unable to avoid the animals and one struck and collapsed the nosegear. The other struck the right flap.