Collision with terrain

At approximately 1257 hours GST on 22nd December, 1969, a Cessna 402 aircraft, registered VH-WLC, crashed and caught fire when it struck trees shortly after taking off from Gove, Northern Territory. The pilot, and three passengers, were killed in the accident. A fourth passenger, survived the impact but died soon after he was rescued on 24th December, 1969.

The aircraft, flown by an employee of the operating company with another employee as passenger, was returning to Kingston S. E. from a strip 23 miles to the south east. The weather was cool and clear with a light south easterly breeze. At approximately 0600 hours GST a small single engined aircraft was observed flying very low towards Kingston about three miles west of the direct track from the departure point and at about 1-| miles east of "Binowie" the property on which the accident occurred. The occupants of "Binowie" Homestead, to whom the pilot was well known, heard an aircraft approach from an easterly direction and fly at a low altitude almost directly overhead. Shortly afterwards smoke was noticed and the crashed burning aircraft was seen 300 yards to the south west of the house. The pilot was found lying clear of the aircraft but the passenger was in the burning wreckage. There is evidence that the aircraft struck the ground in a slightly nose down left wing down attitude at a low forward speed and with a very high rate of descent. The heading of the afrcraft was 055 degrees magnetic which, together with the location of the accident, suggests that after flying over the homestead, the aircraft had turned back towards the house. Examination of the wreckage and a strip inspection of the engine did not indicate any condition or malfunction which might have contributed to the accident. The pilot has stated that he has no clear recollection of the latter stages of the flight.

The pilot lodged a flight plan at Parafield for a return flight to Ceduna and the aircraft departed shortly after first light. It was raining on arrival Ceduna and the weather conditions further deteriorated during the day to frequent periods of light to moderate drizzle and rain from overcast middle level cloud and the development of low stratus cloud. The pilot decided to return to Parafield, as planned, after being briefed that the weather conditions at Ceduna were marginal for flight under Visual Flight Rules and that similar conditions could be expected along the route.

The aircraft had been delivered to the operator on 20 November, 1969 and a demonstration of its acrobatic capability was given at that time by the delivery pilot.

During the two ensuing days the aircraft was mainly flown for demonstration purposes by the pilot concerned in the accident. The pilot was endorsed on the aircraft type but there is evidence that he was inexperienced in acrobatic flight.

The weather was fine with a wind of 5 knots, a little cloud at 4,000 feet and good visibility when the aircraft took off on its last flight. After takeoff the aircraft climbed steeply and then completed a circuit of the aerodrome before making a fast, low approach at high power. This run was made along the general alignment of the runway towards the south east at a height of some 20 to 30 feet above the ground.

When two thirds of the way along the runway, the aircraft entered a very steep climb to a height of approximately 200 feet. At the top of this climb, the aircraft made a stall turn type of manoeuvre to the left, which resulted In the aircraft entering an almost vertical dive on a reciprocal heading to the approach. The pitch attitude of the aircraft progressively changed during the dive, but the height available was Insufficient for complete recovery.

The aircraft struck the ground in a slightly nose down attitude at a comparatively low forward speed, but with an extremely high rate of descent. The undercarriage collapsed and the aircraft bounced and skidded on the grass surface for a distance of 234 feet before coming to rest. There was no fire.

At the time of take-off the weather conditions in the area were a 5/8th cloud coverage with a base of 3, 000 feet; the wind was from the south-west at 10-15 knots and the visibility was 20 miles, reducing to 5 miles in scattered areas of light rain. The pilot, who was restricted to operating in the local training area with which he was familiar, had been briefed to watch for weather deterioration. About half an hour after the aircraft departed, an instructor noticed a squall, 5-6 miles wide, rapidly advancing from the south-west. He made a radio call to the pilot who advised he was three miles north-east of the aerodrome and returning, but he was not seen. A short time later the pilot advised he was heading for the Healesville area to avoid the storm. At about 1100 hours the instructor took off intending to guide the pilot back to the aerodrome but he encountered heavy rain, hail, snow and severe turbulence beneath a cloud base of 700-800 feet. The Musketeer pilot then reported that he was five miles north east at 1, 500 feet and he had "zero visibility" whereupon he was advised to descend on a southerly heading to 1, 000 feet over lowering terrain to where the weather had begun to clear. At about 1125 hours the pilot advised he was heading 120 degrees at 1, 300 feet, which corrected for aerodrome height, is 1, 560 feet AMSL. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft and it was found a fortnight later on a thickly wooded hillside. There was no evidence to show the aircraft was other than airworthy at the time of the accident.

At approximately 1935 hours EST on 6 May, 1969 an Aero Commander 500S aircraft, registered VIJ-EXT, struck the ground and crashed 2 miles west of Warracknabeal Aerodrome, Victoria, while making an approach to land at that aerodrome.

The pilot took off for a local flight and shortly afterwards the aircraft was seen by witnesses on the ground flying at heights variously estimated at 40 to 300 feet above ground level. As the aircraft approached the western boundary of the Tenterfield Golf Course it was seen to enter a manoeuvre having some semblance to a stall turn or a partial loop. The aircraft did not recover from this manoeuvre and struck the ground in a steep nose down attitude.

During the night before the accident the pilot consumed a considerable quantity of alcoholic liquor and he retired to bed at about 0230 hours. Later that morning at approximately 1100 hours, he entered a hotel bar at Sea Lake and left about mid-day after consuming alcoholic liquor. Accompanied by the three passengers who had been drinking with him in the hotel, the pilot refuelled the aircraft before taking off for Albury. The weather conditions were good. During the flight of l| hours at least six bottles of beer were consumed by the occupants. On several occasions the aircraft descended close to the ground and on one such occasion the aircraft flew through a barley crop to a depth of at least two feet, and climbed away with the spray boom bent and barley stalks trailing from the structure,, Some time later the aircraft descended below tree top height, began a steep bank to the right across the boundary fence of a cleared paddock and struck the ground with the right wing tip approximately 80 feet beyond the fence. The aircraft then dived into the ground and was destroyed. The two surviving passengers were thrown clear of the aircraft.

On 31st July, 1969 at 1416 hours EST a Cessna 182K aircraft, registered VH-DVN, crashed into the waters of the Burrendong Dam, twelve miles south-east of Wellington, New South Wales. The bodies of two of the four occupants of the aircraft were recovered but the bodies of the other two occupants and the aircraft itself could not be located.

The aircraft was engaged in spraying a defoliant preparation in mature cotton crops. The pilot had flown a total of 4 hours 30 minutes in a tour of duty which began at 0600 hours EST, was interrupted at 1000 hours and began again at 1630 hours when conditions were again suitable for spraying and extended into the night. The pilot completed the area on which he had been working and after the final spraying run, flown on an easterly heading, he began a climbing turn to the right to proceed to the next area, a paddock lg miles to the south west. After switching off the work lights and while manipulating the controls in the turn, the pilot felt a momentary snag of the aileron control and he switched on the cockpit lights and looked down at the floor for possible loose objects. After a few seconds, satisfied that all was in order, he switched off the cockpit lights and attempted to level the aircraft on a southerly heading. Almost immediately, and before he had regained outside visual reference, the aircraft struck the ground, 25 degrees nose down and 5 degrees left wing down on a heading of 120 degrees. The undercarriage collapsed and the aircraft slewed to rest 110 feet from the point of first impact. Fire broke out immediately and the pilot, who was otherwise uninjured, suffered burns while evacuating the aircraft.