The pilot reported that he was taxiing on the beach when the nose wheel encountered a soft patch of sand. The propeller and a wing were bent. The tide at the time was about half way between low and high. The pilot had frequently operated from this particular stretch of beach. On this occasion he had not noticed that an area of soft sand existed in his taxy path. This accident was not the subject of an on-site investigation.

The pilot was receiving a check flight as part of a biennial flight review. He was appropriately endorsed for retractable gear and constant speed propeller aircraft, but had not previously flown the Mooney type. After touchdown on the third of a series of touch-and-go landings the pilot inadvertently raised the landing gear instead of the flap. The aircraft slid to a halt on the runway.

Circumstances:

The pilot was conducting joy flights. The aircraft had just been refuelled. During a take-off, the helicopter reached a height of about 20 feet and an airspeed of approximately 30 knots when engine power decreased briefly, and rotor RPM decayed. The helicopter was over a dam at the time. While attempting to reach the nearby bank, the pilot turned downwind and overpitched the main rotors. The helicopter descended into 1.5 metres of fresh water. An engineering examination has disclosed that the right hand magneto had an intermittent fault and that the number three-cylinder lower spark plug lead had an intermittent short. The findings cannot be considered to be totally conclusive due to water immersion. However, it is considered probable that the engine power loss was an intermittent total spark loss on number three cylinder. This accident was not the subject of an on-scene investigation.

The pilot intended to conduct practice circuits and landings in preparation for competitions later in the day. On the first landing the aircraft bounced slightly and then veered into soft earth at the edge of the partially constructed strip. The nose gear leg collapsed and the left wing tip struck rocks adjacent to the strip. The pilot was inexperienced and the landing was conducted in crosswind conditions onto a 15 metre wide section of strip which was closely surrounded by areas of soft ground, rocks and earthworks. The organisers of the flying competition had permitted operations to take place on a sub-standard strip.

Circumstances:

During a flight from Orange to Camden, the pilot was unable to proceed beyond the Hartley Valley due to low cloud on the ranges. He attempted to return to Orange but found that route was also blocked by deteriorating weather conditions. In decreasing light, the pilot began a search and located a paddock where he conducted a precautionary landing, during which the main landing gear and wing struck a fence, causing substantial damage. The area forecast had indicated extensive areas of low cloud, with reduced visibility associated with drizzle, over the mountain ranges.

The pilot reported that, shortly after commencing to cruise at about 750 feet agl, the helicopter encountered a willy willy and was thrown almost upside down. During the recovery actions, right pedal was applied rapidly and the operating cable broke. An auto-rotational landing was initiated but, just prior to touchdown, another willy willy struck the helicopter and it landed while spinning under the influence of this disturbance.

Following an hour of dual assessment flying, the instructor authorised the student to perform his first solo flight. As soon as the helicopter was lifted into the hover, it began to move to the right. The right skid contacted the ground, the aircraft rolled to the right and came to rest on its side. Although he had been briefed on the different handling characteristics of the aircraft when only one person was on board, the student had evidently not anticipated the degree of change which would occur.

Circumstances:

Because the performance charts indicated that the strip length available could be marginal, for the take-off, the pilot carried out a physical check using the odometer of a car. This confirmed a usable length of seven hundred metres. The pilot reported that during the take-off roll the aircraft was accelerating normally until approximately mid-way down the strip, at which point the acceleration rate of appeared to slow considerably. He then elected to abandon the take-off, as the speed was still below that required to safely become airborne. He applied brakes and full flap but was unable to prevent the aircraft overrunning the end of the airstrip and colliding with a wire fence.

Circumstances:

The pilot reported that as the aircraft decelerated through 60 knots on the landing roll, braking efficiency was reduced. His attempts to ground loop the aircraft were to no avail, and it overran the strip, while travelling at about 15 knots, and collided with a ditch. The strip is 750 metres in length with a dirt centre section and grassed outer sections. It was reported that rain had been falling all the previous night and had only ceased a short time before the attempted landing. The centre section had had puddles of water on it and the outer section was apparently covered in standing water. This report was compiled from information provided by the pilot of VH-DTV.

The two parachutists were preparing for a jump in which one pulled the other from the aircraft. During the final stages of the preparation, the reserve parachute of the front jumper prematurely deployed. Both persons were ejected from the aircraft, and the leading jumper struck the tailplane. A portion of the horizontal stabiliser was torn off and the aircraft pitched down beyond the vertical. The pilot was unable to regain any control, and, with some difficulty, abandoned the aircraft. He deployed his parachute at about 500 feet above the ground, and landed safely. The parachutist who had struck the tailplane was initially rendered unconscious, and had suffered a broken right arm. She recovered sufficiently to deploy her main parachute and control her descent when close to the ground. The aircraft was destroyed when it impacted the ground in a steep nose-down attitude at high speed. The inadvertent deployment of the reserve parachute was probably caused by the body movements of the parachutist as she moved to her jump position outside the aircraft. The most likely explanation for the inadvertent deployment was that either the securing pins were not engaged correctly or that the rip chord was too short. The rip chord was not recovered. _