Collision with terrain

The aircraft was engaged on a newspaper delivery flight from Adelaide to Whyalla with intermediate stops at Port Lincoln and Port Pirie. One passenger was carried.

Examination of the wreckage indicated that the aircraft had first contacted rising ground on a northerly heading, in a climbing attitude and with the wings level. It had then slid uphill for some 130 metres before coming to rest. The accident site was 414 feet above the elevation of the aerodrome. Both propellers were rotating at the time of impact and there was no evidence that the engines were not capable of delivering normal power. The landing gear was retracted and the flaps were fully up. Significant right rudder trim and right wing down aileron trim were set, indicating that an asymmetric power condition had been adopted during the flight.

At approximately 1822 hours Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 31 May 1974 Fokker Friendship F-27-100 aircraft, registered VH-EWL, crashed adjacent to Runway 35 at Bathurst aerodrome, New South Wales, during an attempted go-around from a landing approach. 

The aircraft came to rest after sliding 625 metres from the impact point and sustained substantial damage. 

VH-EWL was engaged in operating a regular public transport flight with a crew of four and was carrying thirty passengers. Both members of the flight crew, and six passengers, received minor injuries; no other persons were injured.

At approximately 1445 hours, EST, on 29 December, 1974 a Cessna 172K aircraft, registered VH-KUE, crashed into the sea some eight kilometres north of Slade Point, Queensland. The bodies of two of the three occupants of the aircraft and portions of the aircraft wreckage were subsequently located and recovered from the sea.

At approximately 2020 hours EST on 4 January, 1974 a Beech 35/C33A "Debonair" aircraft, registered VH-DEW, struck the ground in conditions of heavy rain and darkness some 1400 metres north of Barkly Downs homestead, Queensland.

Examination of the wreckage subsequently established that the aircraft had struck the ground on a south-westerly heading, at high speed in a 20 to 30 degrees nose down attitude and while slightly banked to the right. The aircraft had broken up on impact and the wreckage trail extended about 137 metres beyond the point of initial ground contact. There was no evidence of any pre-impact structural failure, defect or malfunction which could have contributed to the accident.

The pilot, an American national, had gained his helicopter flying experience mainly as a member of the United States military forces. Prior to obtaining employment with the Operator in June, 1973, he obtained Australian commercial helicopter and fixed wing pilot licences as well as an agricultural pilot rating for fixed wing aircraft. He subsequently undertook a short additional course of helicopter flying and was granted approval to conduct cattle mustering operations. Following a period of operation under supervision, the pilot commenced un-supervised operations in VH-WHR on 22 September, 1973 and, on the day of the accident, he was engaged in mustering cattle to a base camp on a property adjacent to Calwynyardah Station.

The sediment sampling on which the helicopter was engaged involved a series of flights, each of the order of two to four minutes duration. Between individual flights the aircraft remained on the ground with the engine running for the short period required for the rear seat passengers to disembark, collect sediment samples and re-embark for the flight to the next selected location. The passenger in the left hand rear seat would then signal, by tapping the pilot on the shoulder, that both rear seat occupants were strapped in and take off could commence. Conditions in the area were hot and dry and at each take off and landing the rotor wash raised targe quantities of dust.

At 1001 hours CST on 12 May 1973, a Beech 35/C33 Debonair aircraft, registered VH-DHI, struck the ground near the top of a ridge three miles west-north-west of Myponga, South Australia. It was found that the aircraft had struck rising ground, some 750 yards from the coast near the top of a north-south ridge, while travelling in a westerly direction and in a substantially level altitude. The altimeter subscale was set to 1019 millibars, which was the current area QNH. An examination of the wreckage failed to reveal any evidence of a defect or malfunction in the aircraft which might have contributed to the accident.

On 16 August, 1973 a Piper PA30/160 aircraft, registered VH-MEM, crashed into the southern slopes of Mount Neville whilst on a private travel flight from Branxton, New South Wales, to Archerfield, Queensland. The four occupants were killed and the aircraft was destroyed. Examination of the wreckage failed to reveal any evidence of pre-impact structural failure, malfunction of systems, or any mechanical evidence which might have contributed to the accident. At the moment of impact the aircraft was in a climb and the engines were heard at high power immediately prior to impact. The height of the last sighting, the distance travelled and the impact height are in general agreement with the aircraft's normal climb capability. It is apparent, therefore, that the pilot did not appreciate the very dangerous relationship between the aircraft's climb capability and the rising terrain ahead.

At approximately 0748 hours Central Standard Time on 13 July 1972 a Piper PA31-310 Navajo aircraft, registered VH-CIZ, struck the ground in a shallow dive at Golden Grove in the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges some 13 miles north-east of Adelaide Airport, South Australia. The aircraft was engaged in operating a charter flight for the carriage of passengers and freight from Adelaide to Moomba. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and the pilot and seven passengers were killed.

Following a boating accident, the aircraft was engaged to assist in the search for a missing fisherman. The search was to be conducted off-shore between the Cape Banks - Carpenter Rocks area and the southern end of Lake Bonney. The cloud base was about 1000 feet, the wind from the north-north-west at 18 knots and visibility was 20 miles. Both occupants of the aircraft wore life jackets, but these were of a padded, noninflatable type not approved for use in aircraft. The aircraft was fitted with lap type safety belts. Prior to departure the fuel tanks of the aircraft were filled to capacity. Early in the flight the pilot pointed out to the passenger who held a private pilot licence, that carburettor icing was present and some carburettor heat remained applied thereafter. The search was flown at a height of about 500 feet and at 1100 hours the pilot made a routine radio report that operations were normal and that he would call again at 1130 hours. There was no further communication with the aircraft. A member of a land party assisting the search saw the aircraft make a shallow descent and strike the water in a right wing down, nose down attitude near Carpenter Rocks. He subsequently saw the passenger clinging to the tail of the partially submerged aircraft and went for assistance, returning a short time later with a rescue party The passenger was found wandering along the beach in a dazed and injured condition, but there was no sign of the pilot. The aircraft had sunk but was located and dragged ashore sustaining further severe damage during its recovery. The body of the pilot was found in his seat in the cabin with the safety belt fastened. The pilot had lost both legs in an accident and wore artificial limbs for which the rudder controls of the aircraft had been modified. There is no evidence to suggest that his disability contributed to the occurrence or to his failure to evacuate the aircraft.