The pilot elected to land with about an eight knot crosswind component from the right. The surface of the landing area was stoney and some stones and small rocks had been cleared and placed in a heap to the left of the chosen landing path. Towards the end of the landing roll, the pilot turned the aircraft to the right to avoid this heap of stones and, during an attempt to straighten the aircraft following this manoeuvre, the nosewheel yoke broke. The propeller and left wing tip then struck the ground. Examination of the nosewheel yoke indicated that it failed as a result of an overload to the right hand side of the wheel.

Weather conditions were fine with a 5 knot westerly wind. The pilot had completed his dual conversion training on the aircraft type and was authorised to make a solo flight. He successfully completed one solo circuit with a landing into the west, as planned, on to a grass flight strip on the southern side of the runway. When the aircraft had decelerated to about 10 knots, the pilot decided to immediately take-off again. He applied power but, after travelling about 250 to 300 feet on a take-off path which, undetected by the pilot, was diverging to the left from the heading of the strip, the aircraft struck a gable strip marker and then overturned.

Following comments that recovery from right hand spins was more prolonged than for left hand spins, the rigging of the aircraft was checked and both ailerons and an Interplane strut were replaced. The aircraft was then re-rigged and found to fly normally during take-off, level flight and landing. On the day of the accident the pilot advised that, after completing the aerial launch of a glider, he would spin the aircraft to check the right hand spin recovery. After dropping the tow line the aircraft climbed In a thermal to over 5000 feet. At least one spin to the left and two spins to the right were made and recovery effected, but the pilot believed that the recovery from the second spin to the right took longer. He decided to check this and after climbing to a height stated by the pilot to be 3600 feet he again entered a spin to the right. Full left rudder was then applied and the aircraft continued for two rotations without any change In the rate of rotation. The pilot then progressively moved the control column forward during a further two turns and maintained left rudder. He then applied left aileron, rocked the elevators backward and forward, and applied power. These actions failed to effect recovery and the aircraft continued to spin in a nose down attitude to the right until it struck the ground. An examination of the wreckage did not disclose any defects. In a later flight test the pilot demonstrated correct spin recovery technique.

Arrangements had been made to drop two parachutists from the aircraft over a red clay pan and for the aircraft to land so that the parachutists could be returned to Kalgoorlle. The clay pan was inspected by one of the parachutists some two weeks previously but he had no particular qualifications to assess the suitability of the proposed landing area. He informed the pilot that the area was suitable and, subject to an aerial inspection, the pilot accepted this advice. Since the ground inspection, about forty points of rain had fallen in the area. When the parachutists made their descent and landed on the clay pan they sank through the salt crust at a depth of 9 Inches into the boggy sub-surface. They then moved to the edge of the clay pan and the pilot made a low fly past to Inspect the surface but the efforts of the parachutists to warn him were misunderstood. The aircraft approached to land and touched down several hundred yards from the parachutists. When the nosewheel contacted the surface It broke through the crust and ploughed a furrow through the mud. The aircraft then slowly overturned and came to rest Inverted.

The aircraft departed Northampton for the Murchison River Gorge with two company employees as passengers, for the purpose of their taking photographs. Over the coastline a descent was made to 500 feet, and the pilot then descended to 70-80 feet above the beach. Some minutes later a large wave struck a rock outcrop ahead of the aircraft and sea water rose high into the air. The pilot attempted to evade the column of water but was unable to do so and the starboard mainplane struck it, and was substantially damaged. The pilot then landed at a nearby airstrip and inspected the damaged aircraft and, after deciding it was safe to fly, he then flew back to Northampton. The aircraft was later flown to Jandakot without repairs being effected.

The aircraft departed Port Hedland and commenced to climb to a cruising altitude of 5,500 feet. When it had climbed to approximately 3, 000 feet a loud bang from the engine area was heard, and a substantial loss of engine power occurred. The pilot turned back towards the aerodrome and the cabin began to fill with smoke but this cleared when the port window was opened. The pilot carried out various cockpit checks but was unable to restore full power to the engine and he carried out a straight in approach and landed on runway 32. Subsequent examination revealed that the No. 5 cylinder head had failed, following the development of a fatigue crack. Displacement of the cylinder head after failure broke a fuel injection line which led to a fire in the engine cowling, and resulted in damage to engine components and cowlings and to lower fuselage skin.

After receiving a sketch plan of the area to be sprayed, the pilot made an aerial inspection and noted the position of power lines. He then made nine spraying runs which involved pulling up over a power line which crossed the paddock approximately one third of the distance along the spray runs. On the tenth spray run the pilot allowed his attention to be temporarily distracted through watching a marker change to a corrected position. When he again gave his attention to the flight path he became aware that the power line was immediately ahead and at the same height as the aircraft. He attempted to climb the aircraft, but the wires became hooked on the tail wheel assembly. The aircraft decelerated rapidly and contacted the ground on the port main wheel and wingtip. The power lines did not break, but three of the wooden supporting poles were pulled to the ground.

The helicopter was being ferried from Perth to Mount Newman by two pilots who were taking turns as pilot -in -command. After an overnight stay at Meekatharra the flight was resumed and a headwind of 12-15 knots was encountered. At Kumarina the aircraft was refuelled from drums carried in the aircraft and, in an effort to minimise the headwind component, the pilot flew at an extremely low height, following part of the old Great Northern Highway. At a point where the old road Joins the new highway, the helicopter struck a steel bracing wire stretched across the highway between two telephone poles. The aircraft crashed to the roadway and was destroyed by Impact forces.

As the speed of the aircraft was too high for the undercarriage to be lowered while downwind, the pilot waited until he was turning onto base leg before moving the undercarriage selector from the "UP" detent. Partial flap was lowered while on the base leg and full flap during an intentional long final approach. This approach had been chosen to enable the pilot to check on a suspected malfunctioning of the electrical trim actuator. No final cockpit checks, as required by the Company Operations Manual, were made during the approach. Some engine power was used throughout the approach and the landing gear warning horn did not sound before the aircraft contacted the runway with the landing gear retracted. The undercarriage selector lever was found in the "neutral" position and subsequent electrical tests of the undercarriage system proved it to be serviceable.

The aircraft departed Brick House Station for a sheep mustering flight and, after ninety minutes, was landed on a clay pan. Twenty minutes later the aircraft was reboarded to resume the aerial mustering. The pilot taxied the aircraft at a fast speed in a prolonged turn before he applied full power upon reaching his selected take-off direction. When the airspeed was approximately 60 knots and as the pilot was about to lift-off, a sudden and complete loss of engine power occurred. Despite application of brakes, the pilot was unable to stop the aircraft before it reached the edge of the clay pan and entered the light scrub. During the investigation the engine was started normally and an examination of the fuel system did not reveal any abnormalities.