The initial touchdown was in a flat attitude and the aircraft bounced. The second touchdown was on the nosewheel and the propeller struck the ground. After the aircraft bounced again the pilot carried out a go around, during which he noticed about 75 millimetres free travel in the elevators. A safe landing was made and an inspection revealed damage to the firewall, which had moved the elevator control cable pulleys rearwards and allowed the cables to slacken.

Earlier in the day the pilot had undergone a dual check and was authorised to conduct the same operation solo. After some time in the training area he returned for a landing in light crosswind conditions. The aircraft landed heavily nosewheel first and bounced several times before the nose gear collapsed rearwards. The aircraft slid to a halt on its nose, 101 metres from the initial touchdown point. Recent rain had resulted in the available strip width being reduced to only 8 metres. The pilot advised that as he commenced to flare for landing the aircraft drifted off the centre of the strip. While concentrating to avoid landing on the soft sides of the strip he had not continued the flare and touchdown was made on the nosewheel. Although the pilot was aware of the actions required in the event of a bounced landing a go-around had not been attempted.

Circumstances:

With the wind from the right rear quarter at seven knots and 15 degrees of flap selected the pilot attempted a downhill take-off from a one-way 390 metre grass strip. The aircraft was about 100kg below maximum all up weight with the right fuel tank full and the left tank half full. The pilot reported that he flew the aircraft clear of the ground at an indicated airspeed of 50 knots after approximately two thirds of the strip length. Shortly after becoming airborne the stall warning sounded, and the aircraft yawed violently left. The aircraft collided with a fence before coming to a rest about 200 metres from the departure end of the strip. The pilot indicated that the aircraft became airborne at too low an airspeed and that this coupled with the fuel imbalance and the tail wind resulted in a loss of control.

On the two previous landings the pilot noticed a nose wheel shimmy during the landing roll. As his next stop was at his company's maintenance base, he advised the company of the problem. No nose wheel shimmy was noticed on landing, however, the aircraft was inspected by service personnel. During the subsequent take-off, a violent shimmy developed, the pilot abandoned the take-off as the nose leg strut fractured. The nose leg strut had failed from overload, most probably induced by the sudden onset of severe shimmy. The reason for the shimmy could not be positively established.

The pilot flared the aircraft for landing but then decided he was undershooting and applied full power to go-around. The aircraft climbed to about 7 feet when the left wing dropped and struck the ground. The aircraft yawed sharply to the left and the nose struck the ground heavily. The pilot was late in detecting the undershoot but when full power was applied to correct this, he failed to adjust the pitch attitude and the aircraft stalled.

On arrival in the destination circuit area the pilot was unable to obtain a safe "down and locked" indication for the landing gear. A diversion to a more suitable aerodrome was carried out and after all efforts to lock the left main gear down were unsuccessful, a safe landing was made with all wheels retracted. Damage was confined to the propeller blades and the under skin of the fuselage. The right main gear would not lock down because the lock mechanism was corroded and dirty. The corrosion and foreign matter prevented the down lock hook from positioning correctly.

Circumstances:

The 900 metre strip had recently been rolled, however some longitudinal ruts were still present. Following touchdown, the pilot applied relatively heavy braking. When the aircraft had almost stopped, the nosewheel entered a soft patch in the strip surface, turned sideways and the nose gear collapsed.

The pilot reported that the flight was commenced with full fuel tanks. An endurance of over 210 minutes was anticipated with the planned fuel flow. The engine failed after three hours and the aircraft sustained damage to the nose gear and right wing during the ensuing forced landing. The pilot advised that when he subsequently dipped the fuel tanks there was no fuel remaining. The pilot had not leaned the mixture correctly, and the consequent fuel flow was greater than he had expected. On previous occasions he had operated the aircraft for shorter flight periods and had not calculated the actual fuel usage rate.

Circumstances:

The pilot reported that he had flown into the landing area earlier in the day and had noted the position of a power line. On the accident flight, he approached to land from a different direction and encountered another wire which he had not been aware of. He lost control of the helicopter when a main rotor blade contacted the wire.

Circumstances:

The pilot reported that after take-off he climbed the aircraft to approximately 500 feet where he levelled out. When he commenced a right turn, he heard a loud "snap" after which the aircraft would not respond to aileron control. The aircraft continued the turn out of control until impact with trees and the ground. The wreckage was examined by a licenced aircraft maintenance engineer who found that the damage to the controls was consistent with impact damage. No evidence of pre-impact damage was found.