The pilot was competing in a cross country gliding competition when it became apparent to him that an outlanding would be necessary. He then positioned the glider to carry out a circuit for a landing in a paddock. After turning the aircraft onto final approach and deploying full airbrake, the pilot noticed that the indicated airspeed had greatly reduced. He then attempted to close the airbrake but the nose of the aircraft dropped and struck the ground. The aircraft bounced on impact and came to rest 17 metres beyond the initial point of impact.

Before DEPARTURE the pilot dipped the fuel tanks and estimated there was sufficient fuel to complete the flight. Approaching the destination the engine stopped. The pilot selected a road on a newly developed housing subdivision as the only suitable landing area, and an approach was made into the north-east with a tailwind of about 15 Knots. After touchdown, the pilot realised he would be unable to stop the aircraft before a sharp bend in the road and as a result brought it to a stop by steering it between two power poles. The pilot reported that he had flown this route many times and a weather forecast had not been obtained. Had a forecast been obtained and the forecast wind applied, the resulting estimated time interval would have confirmed that there was insufficient fuel on board to complete the flight with the mandatory reserves.

At the conclusion of a survey flight, the pilot elected to conduct a practice autorotative landing. The wind at the time was varying by about 30 degrees, and was gusting between 15 and 30 knots. The exercise proceeded normally until the helicopter had reached a height of about 10 feet above the ground. At this point the aircraft encountered heavy sink, and the pilot was unable to level the skids before the aircraft contacted the ground in a tail-low attitude. The tail boom was broken and both tail rotor blades were damaged. Although the pilot had extensive helicopter experience, his exposure to the lightweight types such as that involved in this accident was limited. It was likely on this occasion that he did not detect that the rotor rpm had decayed at a critical stage of the approach.

The helicopter was being used in a program of disease eradication in cattle. After operating for about one hour, the pilot flew to a boat anchored in the river and hovered alongside it while signalling to the crew that the aircraft would return in about two hours. As the helicopter left the hover it was climbed to approximately 60 feet in a left turn through 270 degrees. The aircraft was then descended to an unnecessarily low altitude while gaining speed. Shortly afterwards, as the aircraft approached the bank of the river, the pilot realised that the aircraft was not responding to control inputs as he had expected. He applied more collective control in an effort to avoid flying into the water, but the rotor overpitched and the aircraft struck the water at about 40 knots. No defect was found that would have prevented normal operation of the flight controls or engine.

The pilot was making a landing approach at the conclusion of a scenic flight. There were horses on the strip and the pilot elected to land long. The aircraft bounced on touchdown and recovery action was not effective before further bounces occurred. The pilot in the right hand seat took control and applied full power, however the aircraft settled into trees adjacent to the strip, and overturned. The strip surface was undulating and the landing was attempted in gusting crosswind conditions. The pilot occupying the right front seat had boarded the aircraft as a passenger. He had taken control of the aircraft because the actions of the pilot in command, following the bounced landing, were ineffective and the aircraft was heading for a building beside the strip. He had no instructional experience.

On the day preceding the accident the station manager was informed that the pilot hired to carry out the muster would be late in arriving. He asked a stockman, who was a station employee, if he would carry out spotting duties until the other pilot arrived. About 20 minutes after the operation had commenced, the ground party heard the sounds of an aircraft impact. The pilot stated that he had been flying at between 400 and 500 feet above the ground when he lost control of the aircraft in a turn. The aircraft was discovered to have struck the ground while in a nose-low, stalled condition. The engine was not developing power at the time of impact, however no defect was subsequently found with the engine or systems of the aircraft. The pilot did not hold a mustering endorsement and had apparently not received formal training in low level operations.

Following a period of circuit practice, the instructor was demonstrating some enroute emergency procedures. An autorotation was entered from 2000 feet, with the pilot aiming for a paddock on the side of a river. He advised that descent was continued to about 250 feet above the ground. Shortly after power was re-applied the helicopter collided with a set of power lines and dived to the ground. The pilot had noted two other sets of wires in the area, but had not sighted a set of three cables between the others until immediately before the collision. The helicopter was being operated outside the designated training area. The grey oxidised powerlines, which were estimated to be between 80 and 100 feet above ground level, were very difficult to see against the overcast sky conditions. The span between supporting poles was greater than those between the other sets of cables.

The pilot was conducting the second leg of his first solo cross-country exercise. He subsequently reported that during the takeoff the aircraft failed to become airborne when expected. Power was reduced in order to abandon the attempt, but the aircraft then momentarily became airborne. The pilot applied forward pressure to the control column to place the aircraft back onto the ground, but a heavy touchdown occurred. The nosegear collapsed and the aircraft slid for 183 metres before coming to a stop. After vacating the aircraft, the pilot realised that he had attempted to takeoff with a downwind component of about 10 to 15 knots. The pilot stated that he had not considered the wind direction prior to the takeoff attempt due to his feeling of elation after successfully completing the first leg of his first solo navex. The runway assumes a downslope past the intersection and the pilot misidentified the gable markers near the runway intersection as delineating the end of the strip. From the position at which the aircraft came to rest there were 917 metres remaining of the 1900 metre strip.

Prior to touchdown the gear position indicator indicated that the gear was down. During the landing roll the right main gear collapsed and the right wing, engine, propeller and flap struck the ground. Collapse of the right maingear resulted from excessive wear of the right overcentre lock bush bearing. The reason for the excessive rate of wear of the bush could not be determined. Thirty six landings had been recorded since the last scheduled maintenance inspection of the gear and it is considered that some evidence of the excessive wear should have been present at that inspection.

Three helicopters were engaged in the mustering of cattle on the property. One became unserviceable during the afternoon but returned to the muster after rectification. By 1830 hours the herd of 4000 cattle were near the homestead and one of the pilots was instructed to return to the homestead and land. The other two helicopters continued the muster using the landing lights of the aircraft for lighting. Last light in the area was 1842 hours. At about 1910 hours the muster was nearing completion and the pilot of VH-HMX was instructed by the property overseer to move his aircraft away from the herd. Shortly afterwards the pilot of the other aircraft observed a fire, and upon investigation found the wreckage of VH-HMX. The aircraft had struck the ground in a steep nose down attitude while banked at about 90 degrees to the left. The pilot was neither approved nor qualified to conduct night mustering operations. An inspection of the wreckage found that the landing light had failed prior to impact, however, due to the damage to the helicopter no reason for the failure could be established. It is considered likely that while the helicopter was being turned away from the cattle, the landing light failed and with the the resulting loss of visual cues the pilot became disoriented and lost control of the aircraft.