This research paper examined the number and rate of fatal
accidents in Australia, Queensland and Far North Queensland
involving aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of 11,000 kg or
less between 1990 and 2005. The latest year available for exposure
data (number of landings, flying hours) was 2004. The purpose of
this paper was to examine fatal accidents in Queensland, and
specifically Far North Queensland, and provide a context in which
to view the results. However, the examination of fatal aircraft
accidents from a regional or state perspective raised issues that
limited the conclusions that could be drawn from the results. These
issues included the generally independent relationship between a
fatal accidents contributory factors and the accident location, the
availability of suitable activity data and the low number of fatal
accidents and fatalities in Australia. Hence, the results described
below indicate what happened in a particular area of Australia as
opposed to the level of aviation safety. The inter-state analyses
showed that between 1990 and 2005, the majority of the 318 fatal
accidents involving aircraft with a MTOW of 11,000 kg or less
occurred in Queensland (n = 102), NSW/ACT (n = 102) and Victoria (n
= 37). In terms of fatalities, the highest number occurred in
Queensland, where 225 of the 647 fatalities in Australia occurred.
There were 0.9 fatal accidents and 1.9 fatalities per 100,000
landings in Queensland between 1990 and 2004, compared with the
national rates of 0.7 and 1.3 respectively. Tasmania recorded the
highest fatal accident and fatality rates of 1.8 and 4.1
respectively. However, the significance of these rates should be
interpreted with caution due to the low number of fatal accidents
and activity in Tasmania. Across Queensland, almost half the 102
fatal accidents occurred in the South region of the state with the
remaining fatal accidents almost evenly distributed across the
Central (n = 19), North (n = 19) and Far North regions (n = 17).
The South region of Queensland recorded the lowest fatal accident
rate of all the regions, with 0.7 fatal accidents per 100,000
landings between 1990 and 2004. The Central and North regions both
recorded 1.2 fatal accidents per 100,000 landings and Far North
Queensland recorded a rate of 1.0. Of the 225 fatalities in
Queensland, South Queensland (83) recorded the highest number of
fatalities followed by the Far North (64), North (42) and Central
(36) regions between 1990 and 2005. However, South Queensland
recorded the lowest fatality rate with 1.3 fatalities per 100,000
landings between 1990 and 2004. The Central, North and Far North
regions recorded 2.3, 2.6 and 3.0 fatalities per 100,000 landings
respectively. The Far North Queensland rate does not include the 15
fatalities that occurred in the Lockhart River accident in 2005,
which would further increase the North Queensland fatality rate. A
fluctuation in fatality numbers, such as that arising from the
Lockhart River accident, highlights the influence a single aircraft
accident can have when fatal accident and fatality numbers are
relatively low.