The pilot reported that whilst taxiing along a narrow taxiway to runway 16 at Cooranbong, he inadvertently allowed the aircraft to veer left approximately 2 m. When he became aware that the aircraft had diverged from the taxiway, he reported that he had insufficient time to manoeuvre the aircraft back onto the taxiway centreline before the aircraft's left wing clipped a fence post. The pilot brought the aircraft to a stop before shutting down the aircraft's engines.

The pilot reported that he may have had a momentary lapse in concentration whilst taxiing the aircraft and that he had not noticed the aircraft's initial divergence from the taxiway. The taxiway's gravel surface may have then impeded his ability to regain the taxiway centreline before the left wing struck the fence post.

Whilst cruising at 3,500ft over Bendigo city enroute to Melbourne, the engine commenced vibrating and rattling. The pilot, on his first solo navigation exercise, shut down the engine and made a forced landing onto Bendigo aerodrome. The aircraft touched down on an unprepared area causing the nose landing gear to collapse.

The aircraft was recovered and the engine sent to a maintenance organisation for teardown inspection. Other than one unserviceable sparking plug, the engine was considered to be within all in-service tolerances and was undamaged.

It is possible that the low time student pilot reacted to the vibration occasioned by the failed sparking plug and shut the engine down when in reality some significant power was available. The subsequent approach had the aircraft landing in an unmade area that overstressed and failed the nose landing gear support structure.

The floatplane was on a positioning flight from Broken Bay, north of Sydney, to Gunnamatta Bay, south of Sydney. Arriving in the area, the pilot found the turbulence was too severe to permit a landing and decided to divert to Rose Bay, on Sydney Harbour, until conditions improved.

At Rose Bay the pilot commenced an approach to land in a north-easterly direction, which was directly into wind. An eyewitness reported that just as the aircraft flared, it yawed sharply to the right, the right wing lifted until the left wingtip hit the water and the aircraft cartwheeled, coming to rest inverted. The pilot climbed out of the cockpit unaided and was rescued by the Water Police. He had received minor injuries.

A cold front, with an associated line squall, was passing through the area at about the time of the accident. Ahead of the front, there were strong winds from the north or north-east. Behind the front, the winds were from the south. Thunderstorms had been reported in the Sydney area, but were off the coast at the time of the accident.

A significant factor in this accident was that during the final stages of the landing approach, the aircraft experienced a sudden wind change. The pilot would have had little or no warning that this wind change was about to occur.

A student pilot on his first solo flight lost control during the landing sequence. The aircraft departed the runway and came to rest on the adjoining grass, damaging the propeller and nose wheel strut.

The instructor reported that the approach appeared normal but the aircraft floated after the flare. The student applied some power but the aircraft landed heavily on the nosewheel, bending the nose strut. The instructor suggested that the student had probably not appreciated the aircraft would be significantly lighter without an instructor on board, and consequently be more likely to float after the landing flare, prior to touchdown.

The aircraft was being used for a private flight from Jandakot to the Lake Clifton airstrip. The pilot had opened the canopy to cool the cockpit. Passing Peel Inlet, the pilot commenced descent from 3,500 ft to land at the airstrip. At approximately 1,500 ft with the airspeed at between 110 and 120 knots, the pilot reported hearing a loud explosion and then experiencing intensive windblast in the cockpit. The pilot's headset and hat were blown off and the passenger suffered cuts and abrasions to his face and scalp. The windscreen and canopy perspex had separated from the aircraft. The pilot reported that the airspeed was reducing through 80 knots before he managed to regain level flight and eventually make a safe landing at the airstrip.

The subsequent inspection revealed that the windscreen and canopy perspex had fractured and broken up. There was no evidence of any external impact. A few shards of perspex remained in the cockpit but most had departed, some piercing the aircraft's wings and elevators during their travel rearwards. Three bolts secure the forward part of the windscreen and a shard of perspex found secured by the centre bolt had evidence of fatigue cracking prior to the ultimate failure. There was also some evidence of fretting of the hole through which the centre bolt was located. The aircraft documentation indicated that the windscreen had not been replaced since the aircraft was assembled in 1978. However, the windscreen had been stop drilled to control cracking in 1986 and 1997 although during that period the aircraft had only flown approximately 94 hours. The aircraft documentation does not indicate where the cracks were in the windscreen. The aircraft had flown approximately 41 hours since the last crack repair.

Evidence indicates that it is probable that the windscreen perspex had failed at or near the front securing bolts. The low pressure generated by the airflow over the windscreen would have caused the perspex to lift from the front causing the windshield-bow assembly to bend rearwards onto the canopy-bow assembly before the windshield perspex ultimately failed and broke-up. Before the windshield perspex had broken up, the pressure on the canopy-bow assembly probably caused the canopy perspex to bow beyond limits to also eventually fail and break-up.

The investigation could not determine the cause of the fatigue that appeared to have led to the failure of the windscreen.

In a report to the Bureau the operator advised that the pilot was ferrying the Robinson R22 helicopter from Darwin to Katherine for maintenance when the pilot heard an unusual noise and decide to land to carry out an inspection. The helicopter was landed in a clearing 135 km south-east of Darwin but no obvious defects were found. The operator advised that shortly after taking off to continue the flight the noise was again evident, but worse. The helicopter crashed while attempting a precautionary landing.

Another agency involved with the occurrence was informed that the pilot felt a vibration while in flight and landed to investigate. He carried out a walk round inspection with the engine running and rotors turning but found nothing untoward. During the subsequent take-off he had to clear a knoll some 300ft high approximately 150m ahead. The pilot claimed there was no vibration evident during lift off and in hover, but as he accelerated there was a loud crack and from then on, he was unsure of the events that followed.

The BASI investigation was unable to have the pilot respond to a request for additional clarifying information, nor did the pilot return telephone calls.

A strip down examination of the helicopter failed to disclose any mechanical problem that may have resulted in the symptoms reported by the operator and the pilot. The personnel who recovered the helicopter found evidence that the tail rotor blades had impacted shrubs, most probably as the helicopter departed the clearing.

The investigation was not able to establish why the pilot had landed in the clearing.

The aircraft was being flown by a student pilot conducting a solo flight in the training area. During the final approach, the aircraft suffered a heavy landing that buckled the engine mounts and firewall.

The student reported that during finals, he may have been distracted by a problem associated with the radio. As a result, the approach on late finals was flown high on glidepath and too fast. On roundout, the aircraft ballooned and landed heavily.

The helicopter was involved in bushfire control when the pilot reported that the engine suddenly lost power at a height of about 150 ft above trees. Attempts to restart the engine were unsuccessful and a forced landing was carried out amongst small trees. Substantial damage was incurred during the forced landing and the pilot sustained minor injuries. The helicopter was subsequently destroyed by the bushfire.

The pilot later reported he had refuelled the helicopter with 300 lbs of fuel about 15 minutes before the accident. Fuel checks at the time indicated that the fuel was not contaminated. The remainder of the fuel, the fuel filter and refuelling equipment at the base, were subsequently checked after the accident and were reported to be clean. As the engine was extensively damaged by the bushfire, the reason for the failure was not determined.

The right main landing gear collapsed as the aircraft touched down on the grass strip at Lake Keepit, after retrieving a glider from a paddock.

Inspection revealed that one of the landing gear attachment bolts had failed. Further investigation revealed that the failed bolt was not of the correct type. It was not determined when or why an incorrect bolt had been fitted.

The crew of a Saab 340 aircraft reported downwind at Ballina NSW for runway 24, in marginal VMC with passing showers. A Mitsubishi MU2 aircraft was also operating within the MBZ and the two aircraft had established two-way communications.

The Saab crew reported that they were established on final approach for runway 24 when the MU2 turned for a tight base leg in front of them. The crew of the Saab broadcast their position on short final for runway 24. Although they state the pilot of the MU2 did not respond to this call, he flew through the centre line of the runway and continued north with his landing gear extended.

The pilot of the MU-2 stated to the owner of the aircraft, that he had broadcast his position joining downwind. As he received no reply to this call, he assumed that the Saab had already landed and continued the approach. He also made a broadcast turning base, and received a reply from the Saab that they were established on final. Due to other traffic in the area he completed a holding pattern before attempting another approach.