On 25 July 2008 at 1033 Central Standard Time a Piper PA-31-350 (Chieftain) aircraft, registered VH-ZMK was being operated on a scheduled passenger flight from Darwin to Bathurst Island, Northern Territory (NT). Moments after take-off, the right engine began to surge and shortly afterwards, the left engine also began to surge. The pilot declared an emergency and returned to the airfield, landing short of the runway.
The investigation was unable to reconcile the pilot's report that he had selected the inboard tanks before take-off on the incident flight with the evidence of the fuel remaining in the inboard tanks afterwards. The engine surging and power loss could be explained by fuel starvation resulting from selection of the outboard tanks that contained minimal fuel.