The aircraft took off from Shay Gap under a very low overcast with the intention of proceeding to Nullagine som 85 miles to the south. The low cloud persisted throughout the route and the tops of hills in the area, at a general level of about 750 feet above mean sea level, were enveloped in cloud and mist. Before taking off from Shay Gap the pilot called the Flight Service Unit at Port Hedland by radio and requested the winds forecast for the local area. Port Hedland did not respond but the aircraft calls were acknowledged by Derby Flight Service Unit. The pilot advised Derby when the aircraft departed Shay Gap at 0637 hours WST and he again requested the forecast winds for the area in which he was operating. The wreckage of the aircraft was found by a searching aircraft at 0800 hours on the following morning. The aircraft had struck the ground at a height of approximately 780 feet above sea level near the crest of a ridge, apparently whilst in substantially level flight and under control. The accident site was some 23 miles south of Shay Gap on the direct track to Nullagine. The aircraft had been on a southerly heading and probably at normal cruising speed at the time of the initial impact with the ground.

There is no record of any communication with the aircraft after it left Connewarre and it did not reach Wagga Wagga. The disappearance of the aircraft was not reported until 31 May, 1971 after relatives of those on board had become concerned that the aircraft had not returned. An intensive air search lasting more than 7 days and hampered by the weather, failed to locate the aircraft. On 12 December, 1971 the wreckage of the aircraft was found, by a private searching aircraft, in heavily timbered country near Mount Buller, at an altitude of 4,400 feet. The accident site was approximately 20 miles to the east of the planned track. The aircraft had struck the trees, tearing off the outer panel of the starboard wing and had then crashed steeply through the timber, coming to rest on a heading of 184 degrees magnetic. The nature of the damage to the starboard wing suggests that the aircraft was not out of control when it struck the trees. The engine and propeller damage was consistent with a low power output at impact with the ground, the ignition switches were "On", mixture control set to "Full Rich", the carburettor heat was set to "Cold" and the fuel selector was on "Both". The aircraft fuel tanks, although damaged were found to contain a quantity of fuel.

The pilot obtained a meteorological forecast which indicated that conditions generally would be suitable for visual flight, but that until 0900 hours there would be areas of drizzle and reduced visibility. He submitted a flight plan which indicated that his route to Warrnambool would be via Sorrento and Colac. The flight proceeded normally to 1,500 feet or about 10 miles west of Torquay, where the aircraft encountered an area of low cloud and drizzle. The pilot descended to remain clear of cloud and when the aircraft had reached the vicinity of the Wurdee Boluc Reservoir he was compelled to fly at an extremely low level to maintain visual contact with the ground. He circled in this area, unable to proceed or to turn back because of the low cloud and reduced visibility in all directions. While flying along the southern edge of the reservoir he observed a line of tall pine trees looming ahead and to avoid them he made a left hand turn over the reservoir. During the turn the port wing tip contacted the surface and the aircraft cartwheeled into the water. There were no witnesses to the accident and one of the four surviving occupants swam a considerable distance to the shore for assistance whilst the other three surviving persons remained standing on the aircraft wreckage which had settled in some 10 feet of water. The fourth passenger had released his seat belt during the flight and was apparently thrown from the aircraft on impact with the water.

It had been pointed out to the pilot, by another pilot on a previous flight, that the undercarriage retraction cycle was slow and he resolved to have this checked on the approaching 100 hourly inspection. The purpose of this flight was to position the aircraft for this inspection. After a normal flight from Adelaide the pilot selected undercarriage "Down" on a practice ILS approach to Essendon and noticed that cockpit indications for the port undercarriage continued to show "Up". He advised the Tower of the problem and on a subsequent pass over the Tower, ground observers confirmed that the port wheel was still retracted. Since he had plenty of fuel on board, the pilot spent about an hour attempting to lower the undercarriage, using the normal and emergency lowering methods. All systems operated normally, except for the port gear, which remained retracted. Acting upon instructions from engineers on the ground, the passenger removed a panel from the hydraulic system and tapped the port gear jack with the rubber end of a crash axe, but to no avail. The pilot decided to make a wheels up landing on the grass parallel to runway 08, and outside the northern boundary of the flight strip. Although the aircraft landed smoothly the under side of the fuselage was considerably damaged. Subsequent examination of the port undercarriage jack showed that the piston 'O' ring was badly chipped, but the reason for this could not be established. A fragment from the chipped 'O' ring had blocked the orifice of the jack brake valve, preventing operation'of the jack to lower the port gear. The unit containing the defective 'O' ring was required to be overhauled at periods not in excess of 4 years, but examination of the aircraft servicing records showed that it had not been overhauled since 14.2.1967.

At approximately 0912 hours Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 18 July, 1971, the Boeing 747 aircraft, registered N652PA, overran the end of Runway 25 and became bogged in soft earth whilst landing at Sydney (Kingsford- Smith) Airport, New South Wales. The aircraft was engaged in operating Pan American Airways Flight 811, a regular public transport service from Los Angeles to Sydney with intermediate stops at Honolulu and Nadi. The aircraft sustained no damage and none of the 15 crew members or 269 passengers on board was injured.

The area to be seeded was a flooded rice paddy, rectangular in shape and approximately 1650 feet east/west by 800 feet north/south, with the western bank 95 feet to the east of a river. There was an extensive area of dense timber, generally about 70 feet in height, on the western side of the river and a line of trees along the eastern bank. After making an aerial inspection of the area the pilot arranged for the two men who were to act as markers to take up positions on the banks of the paddy in preparation for easterly and westerly seeding runs commencing along the southern side. The aircraft commenced a steep descent, with the wings level, consistent with an approach for a seeding run to the east. A few seconds later, when about 250 feet short of the rice paddy, the aircraft struck the sparsely foliated upper branches of a tree which extended about 20 feet above the other trees in the vicinity and the starboard elevator was torn off. With no apparent power reduction, and little change of direction, the aircraft rolled steeply to the left, descended and, after travelling a further 150 feet, struck another tree on the eastern side of the river. The wings and empennage were torn off and the fuselage fell through the tree to the ground and burst into flames.

At approximately 1045 hours EST, on 5 September, 1971, a parachutist landed in the sea close to Mackenzie's Point, following a free fall type descent from 10, 000 feet. Rescue attempts were made but the parachutist was lost beneath the surface, in rough water, for several minutes and was subsequently pulled ashore at Bondi Beach in an unconscious state. Following resuscitation attempts the parachutist was admitted to hospital, where she died several days later on 11 September without regaining consciousness.

The four occupants of the aircraft were members of Condobolin Aero Club and each held a Private Pilot Licence. Earlier in the day they had flown from Condobolin to Narromine to take part in a flying competition. Four other club members had also flown to Narromine in another Club aircraft. A flight plan covering both the outward and the return flight of VH-POK had been submitted to Dubbo Flight Service Unit by telephone. At a prize-giving ceremony held in the clubrooms at the conclusion of the flying competition drinks had been served.

At approximately 1433 hours EST on 15 August, 1971, a parachutist was fatally injured by impact with the ground following a static line descent near Camden, New South Wales. The parachutist, was making his eighth parachute descent. As a result of static line release the pilot chute deployed and the bag was drawn from the pack, but after partial extension of the rigging lines the deployment sequence ceased. When the parachutist's equipment was subsequently inspected the main parachute, except for a small portion, was still contained in its bag and the reserve parachute ripcord had not been operated.

The flight had been planned as a scenic tour of the snowfields near Cooma and two of the passengers had travelled a considerable distance to participate. The forecast ordered for the route indicated that the weather was unsatisfactory and the flight was postponed and a second forecast was then obtained. The pilot decided that the flight was possible under the Visual Flight Rules although the first part of the route would have to be flown above cloud. After taking off the aircraft climbed through a hole in the cloud and set course, climbing to 8, 000 feet on top of complete cloud cover. Shortly afterwards the pilot was advised by radio that a light aircraft in the area had reported 8/8 cloud, base 5,500 feet and the pilot elected to descend through the cloud although he held no instrument rating and had virtually no experience of instrument flying. With the aircraft still in cloud at 4,200 feet, the pilot turned back towards Wollongong and began to climb to regain visual flight. Before he was able to top the cloud, the instruments appeared to give some unexpected indications and the pilot lost control. Several violent manoeuvres then took place before control was regained and the climb resumed. Again the pilot was unable to maintain control and eventually the aircraft broke cloud just above heavy timber in conditions of very limited visibility. This situation left the pilot with a severely restricted choice of alternatives and the aircraft was subsequently flown into the tops of the trees and crashed to the ground 120 feet below.