The pilot was engaged on cotton spraying operations. During the second take-off for the day from this particular strip, a cow ran in front of the aircraft. The pilot attempted to fly over the top of the animal, however the left maingear struck and killed the cow. The pilot was able to maintain control of the aircraft, and diverted to a more suitable aerodrome, where a landing was made without further damage. The strip in use was not fenced to prevent the entry of stock, which had not caused problems in the past. Since the accident the property owner had installed suitable fencing.

After a short flight with three passengers, the owner offered one of the passengers who held a Private Pilot Licence a further flight as pilot in command, as she had not flown this particular aircraft model previously. The aircraft was seen to take off, complete a circuit, land very heavily, and bounce into the air to a height of about 20 feet. Witnesses heard the engine noise increase and saw the aircraft climb slowly with a high nose attitude and with full flap set, to a height of about 80 feet. The aircraft then entered a flat, unsteady, skidding turn to the left through about 180 degrees. After flying straight for a short period, still at very low speed, the left wing and nose dropped suddenly, and the aircraft impacted the ground. Evidence was found of the nose landing gear lower attachment bracket having been misaligned prior to final impact. This could have resulted from the heavy landing and jammed the lower section of the strut preventing its normal movement and/or buckling the lower firewall and adjacent fuselage area. Such damage could cause a jammed rudder control. There is evidence of high foot loads being applied to the right hand rudder pedal(s) at impact. This is consistent with the aircraft having the rudder jammed to the left and could account for the abnormal skidding left turn performed by the aircraft after the heavy landing. Ground impact occurred with the flaps at 10 degrees. It is probable that action was taken to raise the flaps after the turn in an attempt to increase aircraft performance, but the combination of low speed and incompatible control surface deflections caused the aircraft to stall.

A fly-in had taken place to the site of an aviation museum. At the conclusion of the organised activities, it was decided to position the Ceres in such a manner as to allow it to be photographed against the background of the museum hangar. Shortly after start-up, the engine stopped of its own volition, and after the restart it faltered again prior to a normal take-off. During the flight the engine again lost power and the pilot was committed to a forced landing. The only area suitable for landing had a group of Tiger Moth aircraft at the far end, and after touchdown the pilot initiated a ground loop in order to avoid these aircraft. The left gear leg collapsed and the aircraft slewed to a stop short of the parked aircraft. Examination of the fuel system revealed that seals in the hand-operated fuel pump had deteriorated and cracked. This allowed air to enter the system and cause fuel starvation.

The pilot had arranged to take each of his guests on a scenic flight of the local area. On the second of these flights, the passenger took along a video camera. The aircraft was observed flying at a low altitude and subsequently struck the top wire of a 10 metre high three strand power line. The aircraft then continued towards rising ground, climbed over a row of trees before descending rapidly into the ground. A fire broke out and consumed the fuselage of the aircraft. An inspection of the wreckage revealed that only the underside of the rear of the aircraft had struck the wire. It is considered unlikely that this impact would have adversely effected the control of the aircraft, other than to reduce its airspeed. The inspection did not reveal any other defect that could have contributed to the occurrence. It is probable that as the aircraft was climbed over the trees it stalled and that there was insufficient altitude available for the pilot to recover the aircraft. Both occupants survived the impact but were apparently unable to evacuate the aircraft and died in the subsequent fire.

Shortly after an apparently normal take-off, engine power was lost and the pilot was committed to a landing straight ahead. Initial touchdown was in a flooded rice paddy, and the aircraft then struck a levy bank and ran through a fence, coming to rest inverted in an adjoining dry paddock. Investigation revealed that one cylinder head had become detached from the engine and had removed a section of the inlet manifold. The cylinder head had failed as a result of fatigue cracking which had commenced at the edge of an exhaust valve insert.

Circumstances:

The aircraft was approaching to land into a 15-knot wind, with a slight crosswind component from the left. At about 60 feet above ground, the wind suddenly dropped completely, probably due to terrain and buildings. As the pilot yawed the nose of the aircraft to the right to line up with the strip the right wing stalled. The aircraft entered an incipient spin and impacted the ground nose first, approximately 100 metres to the right of the strip.

The pilot had been carrying out a series of joy flights at a rural field day. Refuelling was taking place from 200 litre drums, which had been placed in the shade of a large tree. On the second occasion that fuel was required, the pilot hover taxied to the drums, which were rolled out of the way on completion of the refuelling. As the pilot started to hover taxy again, the helicopter suddenly rose higher than anticipated and the main rotor struck the overhanging branches of the tree. One rotor blade de-laminated, severe vibration occurred, and the helicopter struck the ground heavily. With the helicopter hover taxying two feet above the ground, there was only three feet of clearance between the rotor blades and the tree branches. The reason the helicopter rose sharply and struck the branches was not determined, but may have been the result of a wind gust.

The pilot reported that while he was hovering the helicopter at about 25 feet agl, the engine suddenly lost power. He placed the helicopter in an autorotation but maintained the throttle setting that had been set while the aircraft was hovering. Just as the skids were about to contact the bushes, the engine momentarily regained power. The helicopter impacted the ground on its right hand side and fire broke out. Both the occupants escaped from the helicopter before it was destroyed by fire. An examination of the engine revealed that both valves in one cylinder had been striking the top of the piston, and the inlet valve was badly chipped. It was likely that when the inlet valve failed, a flashback occurred in the induction system, resulting in a complete loss of engine power. The engine regained power momentarily when the mixture build-up again reached a combustible level. Had the pilot closed the throttle when the engine initially failed, the sudden power surge should not have affected his ability to control the autorotation.

The aircraft was cruising at an altitude of about 300 feet above ground level when the pilot heard a loud bang, then felt a severe vibration. The engine continued to operate for about two to three seconds before stopping. Because of the unsuitable terrain over which the aircraft was flying, the pilot was forced to land into trees and the aircraft rolled on its side. An inspection of the engine found that the number 3 connecting rod had failed. The failure was initiated by galling between the big end bearing and the connecting rod, inducing a fatigue failure of the connecting rod. Specialist opinion indicates that the engine was improperly rebuilt following a bulk strip some 200 hours earlier, in that excessive clearance was permitted between the crankshaft and big end bearing.

Fog had forced the pilot to abandon an earlier attempt to reach a property to conduct spraying operations. After a delay of about one hour, the pilot departed for a second attempt. He later reported that during descent through a hole in the lifting fog, the right spray boom became detached. He decided to return to the DEPARTURE aerodrome, but as the aircraft was clearing some mist, it collided with the top of a gum tree. The pilot shut down the engine because of severe vibrations and carried out a forced landing on a ridge. It was considered that the pilot had not checked that the quick-disconnect fitting on the spray boom was securely fastened during the pre-flight inspection. He had been distracted by the displaced boom and had not seen the tree until it was too late to take avoiding action.