Circumstances:

While attempting to recover from a bounced landing, the pilot lost directional control of the aircraft, and it collided with a fence.

The student was carrying out a practice forced landing on Delissaville airstrip as part of a pre-licence test. After the student had initiated the flare for landing, the instructor became aware of a high descent rate but too late to prevent a hard landing. The instructor took control, carried out a touch and go, then advised the student to return to Darwin. Inspection there, revealed that the aircraft had suffered substantial damage as a result of the hard landing. The student was landing on a strip that presented different visual cues to the strip he had used for most of his training. During the approach the instructor allowed his attention to be diverted from his monitoring task. The student also believes that he allowed his attention to wander from the landing to the next situation that the instructor may have presented to him, and flared too high. This accident was not the subject of an on-site investigation.

Whilst applying brake after landing the pilot's foot slipped off the left rudder pedal and the aircraft veered to the right. The pilot replaced his foot on the pedal and applied corrective rudder and brake but the aircraft subsequently ground looped to the left and the right main gear leg collapsed. The rudder pedal surfaces were found to be worn. The pedal design was such that foot restraining capabilities were reduced as the surface became smoother from normal wear and tear. It was also determined that the brake pads on the right gear were excessively worn and this probably aggravated the pilot's problem with directional control.

The helicopter was involved in cattle mustering operations. It was being flown at about 50 to 100 feet agl when a sudden yaw to the right developed. Attempts by the pilot to regain control of the aircraft were unsuccesful and it landed heavily while still rotating to the right. Both the occupants were thrown clear of the aircraft which caught fire immediately. The extensive fire damage to the aircraft inhibited the inspection of the wreckage. As a result, no reason for the apparent loss of control could be determined.

The weather was fine when the pilot departed Bankstown, however, deteriorating conditions were encountered enroute. Communication was lost with the aircraft after the pilot reported he was holding at a point some 15 kilometres from his destination. Searchers subsequently discovered the wreckage of the aircraft in water, 900 metres from the intended landing strip. No fault was found with the aircraft that would have been likely to contribute to the accident. Thunderstorms, low cloud and extremely heavy rain were present in the area. It is probable that the pilot was manoeuvring the aircraft for a landing when it struck the water.

Circumstances:

After several touch and go circuits, the pilot noticed the right landing gear was broken and swinging free. A landing was made directly into wind on the remaining wheel but on touchdown the aircraft swerved to the right before coming to rest on its nose, breaking the propeller, and damaging the right wing. The pilot said the landing gear had suffered a fatigue failure at the upper weld area adjacent to the rubber bungee attachment and this was a known problem on the aircraft type. The manufacturer subsequently issued a service bulletin to install additional landing gear restraint cables to preclude fatigue failures of this type.

The pilot was in the process of purchasing the "Cygnet" and had flown to Forest Hill to fly the aircraft before the purchase was finalised. On the day before the accident, he completed several flights in the "Cygnet", the last of which resulted in a forced landing after the engine failed. On the day of the accident the pilot planned to return to his home, but the aircraft he had flown to Forest Hill was unserviceable and departure was delayed until the following day. That afternoon when the "Cygnet" had been repaired he made another successful flight in the aircraft, which was also subsequently flown by another pilot. At 1505 hours, the pilot again took-off in the "Cygnet", for a ten minute flight. During this flight several flypasts were made along the strip before an approach to land was made. Witnesses report that the approach was misjudged and after touchdown the aircraft bounced several times before the pilot applied power and carried out a go-around. The aircraft then climbed straight ahead with full power set before making a steeply banked turn onto the crosswind leg of the circuit. A flat tight turn through 180 degrees was then made and the aircraft appeared to witnesses to be flying very slowly. During the turn one witness reported that the pilot's left foot came off the rudder pedal and control was partially lost. After control was regained, the aircraft continued flying slowly, it was seen to oscillate in pitch several times before the left wing dropped and it entered a spin. No change in engine noise was noticed during the spin and the engine continued to operate until the aircraft impacted the ground. Inspection of the aircraft did not reveal any pre-existing fault that would have contributed to the accident. It was subsequently found that the pilot was a diabetic and at the time of the accident he was markedly hypoglycaemic. The erratic way in which the aircraft was flown prior to impact indicates that the pilot lost control of the aircraft due to his being incapacitated as a result of hypoglycaemia.

The pilot carried out a normal full flap approach into a steady 15 knot headwind. Immediately before touch down the aircraft was struck by a strong wind gust from the left. The aircraft yawed sharply to the left and the nose lifted. The pilot applied full power and attempted to lower the nose but the aircraft touched down heavily on its main wheels and tail tie down ring. The aircraft did not bounce and the pilot elected to complete the landing. It was likely that the aircraft had been affected by a willy-willy at a critical stage of the approach. The pilot's recovery actions were unable to prevent the resulting heavy landing.

The pilot was operating a NOSAR NO DETAILS flight and he did not establish the time of last light at Esperance prior to departure from Lake King. In flight the pilot's only navigation was to check that he passed over known features whilst enroute. At a point approximately half way into the 50 minute flight the pilot became concerned about the failing light and he increased power in an attempt to reduce the remaining time interval to his destination. When the aircraft was approximately 15 km short of Esperance the pilot who was unsure of his exact position decided to land in a paddock rather then continue with the flight. The pilot carried out an Authorised Landing Area (ALA) inspection under the constraints of reducing time and light and he did not observe any obstructions other than some trees near the approach end of the paddock. Because of the trees the aircraft touched down well into the paddock and the pilot was unable to avoid colliding with a fence and water trough which he had not seen prior to landing. The collision occurred approximately 30 minutes prior to last light. The light was poor due to an extensive cloud cover. Esperance airfield was fitted with a Pilot Activated Lighting (PAL) system but the pilot who was aware that the system was there did not know the frequency needed to operate it. The pilot did not seek help from Flight Service prior to his precautionary landing.

The flight was to be a period of solo practice exercises following the completion of a Commercial Licence flight test a number of weeks earlier. The pilot conducted a number of circuits and landings, and on this circuit was carrying out a power termination autorotation landing from 800 feet above the ground. As he commenced levelling the helicopter from the flare, he felt a bump at the tail. He landed the helicopter and shut the engine down. An inspection revealed that the tail rotor had contacted the ground, severing the tail rotor blades. The resultant vibration and imbalance caused the tail boom to fracture and the horizontal stabiliser to became detached. No pre-existing defect was found with the helicopter which could have contributed to the occurrence. It was evident that the pilot had misjudged his height above the ground during the landing flare.