The flight was the first exercise for a type endorsement. After some upper air work had been completed in the training area the aircraft returned to Bankstown for circuits and landings.

The instructor reported that the student was having difficulty with flaring the aircraft and was occasionally ballooning the landing. It was therefore decided to terminate the exercise after the next landing. The final approach was normal, but the aircraft again ballooned. Before the instructor could effect recovery action, the aircraft stalled and contacted the runway heavily, collapsing the nose landing gear. Both occupants vacated the aircraft without injury.

The aircraft was being landed on runway 36, with an easterly wind gusting to 10 kts. A three point attitude was used for the landing. After the touchdown, braking was used to slow the aircraft but it developed a swing to the right. The pilot applied left brake to stop the swing but pedal pressure was soon lost. The ground loop continued, resulting in damage to the left main gear and left wing.

An inspection of the left brake system found that the pedal bled to the floor, after initial pressure was obtained, in about one second. No leaks were found. The fault appears to be an internal failure of the master cylinder.

An emergency locator transmitter was carried but it did not activate.

The helicopter was spraying a melon crop when the main rotor came into contact with a steel rod in the crop. The subsequent rotor imbalance necessitated a forced landing. The helicopter subsequently landed heavily, and the main rotor blades cut off the tail boom resulting in substantial damage. This accident was not reported.

The pilot reported, that during the take-off run on runway 27 at Bunyan, the tug and glider combination experienced a slight down draught which caused them to settle back on the runway. The combination ran along the runway for a further 10 metres and the glider became airborne again. A short distance later as the tug was becoming airborne, there was a hard loud thump on the nose gear. The aircraft became airborne, and all controls and instruments indicated that the tow was normal. Given the length of strip remaining, the hill in front, and the glider at low level on tow and the now normal operation of the aircraft, it was decided to continue with the glider tow.

The glider was towed up to 5,500 ft, and then released. The tug commenced a descent and returned to the airstrip to land. After allowing sufficient distance for the tow rope to clear the power lines on approach to the airstrip, the aircraft descended to make a smooth touch down on the main landing gear.

When the nose landing gear touched the ground, it began to skid over the rough surface, as the scissor link had apparently been fractured during take-off and the nose leg turned through approximately 60 degrees from its normal tracking position. The nose leg then fully collapsed resulting in the propeller striking the ground. The aircraft subsequently ground looped and the left wing tip struck the ground. The aircraft was evacuated with nil injuries to the occupants. The pilot of the glider observed that as the tug was about to become airborne, he saw a cloud of dust rise from the nose wheel of the aircraft, after which he noticed that the front wheel of the tug was approximately 60 degrees from its normal position and the scissor link appeared to be fractured. He advised that he continually tried to transmit a message to the tug, but his radio apparently was not transmitting.

After departing Albany for a private strip near Muradup, the pilot encountered deteriorating weather conditions including showers, cloud and failing light. With rain falling at the alternative strips, the pilot decided to continue to the private strip. During landing, the pilot rounded the aircraft out too high. It floated and the pilot applied full flap resulting in a landing 200 m down the 600 m strip. On the application of brakes, the aircraft skidded on wet grass on the slight downslope. As the aircraft came to the end of the strip, the pilot reported that the aircraft veered right, puncturing the right landing gear tyre on a log. It continued along a dam embankment before hitting a fence and coming to a stop. The pilot and passenger were not injured although the aircraft received damage to the right wing, left engine cowl and left elevator.

The pilot reported that he departed Mareeba in company with another R22 helicopter at approximately 1645 EST. The flight was intended to proceed from Mareeba to Cairns via Stoney Creek. The pilot stated that approaching Stoney Creek (5NM west of Cairns aerodrome) they landed to assess the weather further. After consultation with Cairns approach they were advised that Stoney Creek was visible from the control tower. Both helicopters then took off to continue to Cairns. The pilot said that shortly afterwards, and before reaching Stoney Creek the weather ahead deteriorated suddenly, and the pilot decided that they would return to Mareeba. A turn to the right was commenced, and shortly afterwards the helicopter began to yaw uncontrollably to the right and descended into trees. The passenger was uninjured and was able assist the pilot from the aircraft. The pilot then used his mobile phone to call for assistance and guide the Queensland Emergency Services rescue helicopter to the crash site. The passenger and pilot were winched from the site and flown to the Cairns Base Hospital.

Subsequent examination of the helicopter revealed no technical defect which may have contributed to the accident. The pilot described the control loss as an uncommanded yaw to the right, indicating loss of tail rotor authority. The pilot said the last time he observed the indicated airspeed it was 40 knots and was unable to explain the uncontrolled yaw right. Although there was no discernible horizon at the time, the pilot said he was flying towards a clear area, was visual with the ground, and was clearly visible from the other helicopter which was slightly higher and to his right.

The helicopter was being flown in support of geological drilling operations and had just been used to externally sling-load a pump into a creek bed. The refuelling point and landing area were located about 20 m from the edge of a ravine which was approximately 30 m deep and 100 m wide. A tree was growing from a point below the top of the ravine and the tree's tops protruded approximately 3 m above the ravine's edge. When the pilot flew the helicopter to the landing area to refuel, he lowered the external sling to the ground and then flew the helicopter backwards approximately 1 m, intending to land next to the fuel drums.

As the pilot was landing the helicopter, evidence indicates that the left skid became caught on a rock. When the pilot attempted to fly the helicopter clear, the left skid suddenly broke clear of the rock. The helicopter rolled right as it climbed, and the right skid impacted a pump housing protruding from the top of a fuel drum before striking the top of the tree located on the ravine's edge.

The helicopter continued drifting and began yawing right as it descended into the ravine. The pilot reported that just as he was regaining some control of the helicopter, it landed, upright, on a rock shelf approximately 2 m from the ravine floor. It appears that at this stage, the main rotor impacted the helicopter's tail boom. The helicopter then rolled and fell off the rock shelf to the ravine floor. It came to rest on its right side with the engine still running and main rotor turning.

The pilot reported that he then closed the throttle, turned the fuel switch off and exited the helicopter through the front windscreen, having suffered minor injuries. He also reported that he turned off the emergency locator transmitter beacon although it did not appear to be operating.

During the landing, evidence indicates that the left skid became stuck in the rock. When the pilot attempted to reject the landing, it is likely that he would have used a combination of up collective and right cyclic as the helicopter pivoted around the left skid. It appears that the rock then broke. The sudden release of the left skid, associated with the cyclic and collective control positions probably caused the helicopter to rapidly roll and drift right. As the helicopter climbed, rolled and drifted, it was likely that the pilot could not have quickly regained control due to the subsequent impacts with the fuel pump and tree. It was probably fortunate that the helicopter entered the ravine, giving the pilot time to recover some control before the landing on the rock ledge. The forces and imbalance generated by the main rotor strike on the tail may have then caused the helicopter to rollover, fall off the shelf before finally coming to rest on the ravine floor.

The pilot was conducting a charter flight from Moorabbin to French Island and return. He was carrying 3 passengers with light luggage. On arrival at French Island, he landed to the east on the grass strip. While taxying after landing the nose wheel became bogged in sandy soil near the eastern end of the airstrip. The pilot shut down the engine and the passengers helped him push the aircraft to a parking position facing west at the eastern end of the strip. This location enabled the pilot to use the full length of the grass strip for a take-off to the west later in the day. Later, when the group returned to depart the outside air temperature was approximately 14 degrees Celsius, the wind was calm and the QNH was approximately 1021 mb.

The airstrip surface was slashed grass and much of the soil underlying the grass surface was sandy loam. In the take-off direction the strip was slightly up hill until about midway, and then slightly downhill. The airfield was approximately 131 ft above sea level and the surrounding terrain was gently undulating. The pilot applied full power and held the aircraft on the brakes before commencing the take-off roll. The passengers reported that the aircraft accelerated normally for about 100 metres, after which the rate of acceleration slowed. As the aircraft neared the western end of the strip and the pilot rotated the aircraft to become airborne the passengers advised that they heard a noise which they believed was caused by the tail of the aircraft striking the ground. The pilot did not recall a noise as the aircraft rotated but said that he noticed a slight change in engine note soon after liftoff.

The aircraft climbed to about 20 ft, banked slightly left and then settled back onto the ground approximately 70 m from the point of lift-off. It skidded down a gentle slope through light foliage and logs, slewed to the left and came to rest about 135 metres beyond the end of the strip. As the aircraft stopped, the pilot and passengers saw flames in the cabin. The pilot's door had jammed shut because of fuselage damage, therefore all occupants evacuated quickly through the right door. Within seconds the aircraft was engulfed in flames. None of the passengers reported hearing the stall warning horn at any stage. They reported that the engine sounded as though it was producing take-off power even after they heard the tail hit the ground. Although the aircraft was substantially damaged by fire no pre-existing fault was found with the aircraft.

Because of the fire damage, the stall warning system could not be tested. The maintenance release was issued for operation in the aerial work category which did not embrace the requirements for this charter flight. The pilot reported that he had selected 1/4 flap for the take-off. The flaps were found in the up position after the accident; the flap selector may have been knocked up during the impact. The pilot estimated that the take-off weight was 1006 kg, which included 36 litres of AVGAS. Subsequent calculations showed that the take-off weight was 1017 kg, which was 49 kg below the maximum allowable weight. The pilot reported that he had checked the aircraft performance data before the flight and assessed that a 600-metre strip would be adequate for taking off over a 50 ft obstacle in nil wind conditions. None of the performance charts included factors for degradation of aircraft performance due to wear and tear, or for the slowing affects of sandy loam underlying a grass surface.

The operator reported that prior to conducting charter operations on French Island, two company pilots had measured the strip using vehicle odometers and recorded a length of 600 metres in the company's authorised landing area register. Using a calibrated wheel after the accident, the strip was re-measured and found to be only 500 metres long.

The pilot reported that he was entering the paddock for the final spray run, a clean-up run at right angles to his earlier spray runs. The right wing struck a power line at 40 ft above the ground, and was torn from the aircraft. After a rapid roll to the right the aircraft struck the ground in a semi-inverted attitude. The pilot vacated the aircraft, which did not catch fire.

The power line had been identified by the pilot during his initial inspection of the area. He had flown parallel to the line when spraying the paddock but forgot about it when he commenced the clean-up run. This was the first time the paddock had been sprayed this year, but the pilot had sprayed the area in previous years.

An emergency locator transmitter was carried in the pilot's bag. It was not used during the recovery from the accident.

The pilot stated that he was mustering bulls approximately 5 km west-north-west of Kalmeta homestead. He said he was approximately 40-50 ft high when he hit a wire. He did not see the wire prior to impact. The pilot said that when he realised he had hit a wire he took all necessary action, but lost control of the helicopter, and it fell backwards to the ground. The pilot said that due to the impact and injuries he sustained he did not remember anything further.