The helicopter was engaged in a medical evacuation operation. A crewman was positioned on the ground to anchor a tag line, which was attached to a Stokes litter and was designed to prevent the litter from spinning during winching. The nature of the terrain was such that the line could not be positioned at the correct angle. Shortly after the winching operation commenced, the litter commenced to spin. As it neared the helicopter, the winch operator attempted to stop the spinning to enable the litter to be lifted on board. His right arm was broken when it became entangled in the litter straps.

The pilot was attending a fly-in to display his aircraft. Because he was concerned about the length of the strip he was endeavouring to touchdown at the threshold. During the final approach, he became aware that the airspeed was reducing below the optimum and applied some power, however, the aircraft struck the ground heavily about 10 metres before the strip threshold. The pilot applied full power and carried out a go-around. As a result of the ground contact the nosewheel was torn off. The pilot was advised of the situation by ground observers and elected to divert to Parafield. During the subsequent landing the nosegear leg collapsed.

Circumstances:

The pilot inspected the strip from the air and elected to land towards the west because of high ground and obstacles on the opposite approach. The aircraft bounced on landing and then floated for some distance before braking could be applied. The pilot remained confident adequate strip remained to stop the aircraft. There was, however, a slight hump in the strip and as the aircraft reached it the pilot saw a fence about 100 metres ahead. He applied heavy braking which had little effect on the loose surface. To avoid the fence, the pilot attempted to ground loop the aircraft. The left main landing gear leg entered a small ditch and was torn from the aircraft. On exiting the aircraft, the pilot noted that he had landed with a tailwind of about 5 knots.

After selecting gear down, a safe indication could not be obtained for the left main gear. The pilot diverted to a more suitable aerodrome, where further attempts to lower that gear also failed. The gear was retracted and a wheels-up landing carried out. The pilot subsequently advised that a similar left gear unsafe indication had occurred 3 landings prior to this particular occurrence, but on that occasion after recycling the gear a normal extension was obtained. The left gear had not been rigged or lubricated in accordance with maintenance instructions, and the left gear uplock roller had seized. A check that the rollers are free to rotate is part of the normal pre-flight inspection. Indications were that neither of the maingear rollers had rotated for some time. There was some doubt that the pilot had been advised of the gear roller check requirement when he was undergoing endorsement training on the aircraft.

Circumstances:

The pilot had been operating into the landing area for approximately two weeks during which time there had been little wind. On the day of the accident there was a strong wind blowing. The aircraft was close to all up weight, and the density altitude was about 3500 feet when the pilot attempted to make a downwind approach to the landing area. The aircraft collided with the ground at approximately 40 knots, the impact causing the skids to be torn off. The helicopter continued to fly after the impact, so the pilot returned to his base camp about five kilometres away and hovered the aircraft whilst the passengers disembarked. He then landed the helicopter on a specially prepared pad.

The pilot reported that after take-off the landing gear could not be fully retracted. On arrival at Dubbo efforts to lower the gear by normal and emergency means were unsuccessful. The pilot elected to divert to Bankstown and subsequently landed on the partially extended gear. The nosegear collapsed and the aircraft slid to a halt. The brush pigtail in the landing gear electric motor had failed through normal use. The pigtail and its soldered washer had allowed massive arcing to occur, causing the motor and the actuating shaft to seize. The landing gear had been in an intermediate position when this occurred, and because the emergency lowering system is connected to the same actuator shaft, it also became inoperative.

At the conclusion of an aerobatic sequence, the pilot positioned the aircraft for a landing on the grass flight strip. At the time, there was a crosswind of about 8 knots with occasional gusts. Towards the end of the landing roll the aircraft groundlooped and the left maingear collapsed. The pilot stated that he did not believe the aircraft could groundloop at such a slow speed and was therefore not ready when the aircraft weathercocked. He did not attempt to apply full power, which is the recommended procedure in this aircraft, to correct such a swing.

Circumstances:

The pilot had been engaged in sheep spotting for a period of approximately three hours and was returning to the refuelling pad. Enroute, he observed a motorcycle stockman, and landed the aircraft in a cleared area nearby, to advise him of the location of a mob of sheep he had spotted earlier. The pilot advised that after he had landed, he left the engine running at between 70 and 80 percent rotor/engine speed.

The pilot, who had recently purchased the aircraft, had arranged to fly it from an adjacent property to a strip he had had prepared on his property. Just after touchdown, the left wheel broke away from the aircraft and the aircraft veered left and ran off the the strip. The strip on the pilot's property was 285 metres in length and 20 metres wide and the surface covered in soft, fine soil. It is probable that the failure that resulted in the wheel being dislodged was caused by the wheel being retarded in the soft soil.

Circumstances:

During the flight from Cooma, the pilot experienced complete communication and radio navigation aid failures. Deteriorating weather forced the pilot to fly at 500 feet above the mountainous terrain, resulting in him becoming unsure of his position. The pilot later re-established his position, but the weather deteriorated further with the onset of heavy rain, severe turbulence, and reduced visibility. The pilot decided to make a precautionary landing in a paddock. Soon after touchdown he saw a fence running across the landing path. He made a go-around but clipped the fence. A short time later while still coping with low cloud, rain, and reduced visibility, he located an airfield and landed.