Oceania

The aircraft was cleared via a Standard Instrument DEPARTURE with an unrestricted climb to Flight Level (FL) 220. The aircraft climbed on track at an average rate of 1300 ft/min until FL130. The rate of climb then reduced to 350 ft/min until FL140, when the rate of climb increased to 1800 ft/min. At FL160 the aircraft entered a near vertical descent and radar contact was lost one minute later at 3100 feet. The aircraft impacted the ground in a near vertical attitude. The pilot, sole on board, was killed.

The pilot and loader driver arrived in the morning in ZK-CLI, flying over from Stratford. They had been working at the same farm the previous day. At about 08:35 a break in the operation was taken for refueling. The Fletcher was airborne again at about 08:45 carrying 16 hundredweight ( 815 kgs ) of fertilizer, and the pilot flew towards an area of river flat enclosed in a horseshoe bend in the Patea River, surrounded by higher ground. The loader driver reversed his vehicle to the superphosphate bin and began filling the bucket in preparation for the next sortie. As he did so he heard the sound of an impact and, hurrying back to the airstrip, saw the Fletcher crashed nose down on a hillside above the opposite bank of the Patea River, and about 1,200 metres to the northeast of the strip. The driver estimated that about a minute and a half had elapsed between the take off and the sound of the crash. The aircraft was wrecked. There was no fire. The pilot was found dead. The weather was fine with a light breeze. Flying conditions were not considered to be a factor in the accident. The condition of the propeller showed that the engine was producing power at the time of impact. The gross weight and C of G were within the permitted limits. There was evidence of about 250 kg of fertilizer at the crash site. It is believed that the pilot had carried out two sowing runs on the river flat area and was climbing away steeply to clear an adjacent ridge when control was lost during a turn and the plane dived into the ground.

The aircraft was engaged in operating a night freight flight from Brisbane to Gladstone and Rockhampton. The pilot departed Rockhampton as a passenger in another company aircraft at about 2100 hours the night before the accident and was flown to Caloundra. He then flew VH-DIL to Brisbane and after arriving submitted a flight plan for the return flight to Rockhampton giving an estimated time of DEPARTURE Brisbane of 0230 hours. Before DEPARTURE, however, the pilot was required to await the arrival of another aircraft so that freight could be transhipped to his aircraft. DEPARTURE from Brisbane was made at 0301 hours and at 0400 hours the pilot reported the aircraft's position over Gayndah, the pilot was instructed to call on another radio frequency at 0410 hours. No further transmissions were heard from the aircraft. The wreckage was located two days later in mountainous terrain. The aircraft had impacted the ground in a near vertical attitude. Subsequent investigation did not reveal any fault with the aircraft or its systems that could have contributed to the accident. The day before the accident the pilot rose at about 0730 hours after spending the previous night and day at a friends property near Rockhampton. He spent the day at leisure at the property before returning to Rockhampton in the afternoon. After dining at his parents home he proceeded to the airport for the flight to Caloundra. Before departing Brisbane to return to Rockhampton the only sleep the pilot would have had was about an hour on the flight to Caloundra and possibly another short period at Brisbane Airport while waiting for his aircraft to be loaded.

Crashed in unknown circumstances somewhere in PNG.

The pilot, sole on board, was completing a sowing lime mission on a hillside located in the Whitemans Valley, south of Upper Hutt. While turning in the valley to position for another sowing run, the single engine aircraft's left wing and undercarriage struck a small ridge. The plane then collided with a fence, cartwheeled, and dived into the ground. The pilot was killed.

Just after liftoff, the left engine failed. The pilot decided to land back but the aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance. It overran, went through two perimeter fence and came to rest 60 meters further, bursting into flames. The pilot, sole on board, was uninjured.

The aircraft took off on its 13th sowing flight of the morning and headed for the sowing area, about 2 minutes flying time away. It was observed by a farmer working some 1.5 km away from the accident site to make its usual pattern of sowing runs for that morning, that is an initial northerly run over the sowing area during which the major portion of the fertilizer load was dispensed, followed by a RH reversal turn to sow the balance of the load. On this last flight however the witness thought that the northerly run was started further north than the previous ones and the reversal turn was preceded by a steeper climb than usual. The witness then saw the plane descending sharply until it passed from his sight behind intervening terrain. This witness heard the impact. The aircraft was found wrecked by another witness who heard a plane pass right overhead his house, followed by the cessation of engine noise and then the sound of the crash. This witness and another person were able to get to the crash site in just a minute or two and found the plane upright and on its belly but wrecked. There was no fire. The pilot was found still strapped in his seat and unconscious. He had incurred serious head and facial injuries from which he died next day. A pathologist's opinion was that the injuries were fatal. Ground evidence showed that the Fletcher had struck with its right wing a power pole on the boundary of the paddock being sown while descending in a right bank, before pivoting and hitting the ground in a yaw to the right, and in a nose down attitude.
Source: ASN

The crew as completing a local training flight at Amberley Airport. On final approach, the instructor simulated a left engine failure. The airplane lost height on short final, went into a nose-down attitude and landed hard. The nose gear collapsed and the left engine partially detached. The airplane veered off runway and came to rest. While all three crew members escaped uninjured, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Suffered an accident somewhere in PNG. Occupant fate unknown.

The aircraft was being operated on a regular freight carrying run between Dysart and Rockhampton. On the evening preceding the accident, the aircraft departed Dysart at 2045 hours, arriving at Rockhampton at 2139 hours. At 0222 hours on the following morning the pilot telephoned Brisbane Flight Service Centre to obtain an update on the weather for the return flight to Dysart. The forecast indicated that at the time of arrival at Dysart, light rain with 5 oktas of cloud at 700 feet above ground level, could be expected. The pilot nominated Rockhampton as the alternate for Dysart in the event that weather conditions at the latter aerodrome precluded a safe approach and landing. The aircraft was refuelled to give a total fuel endurance of 290 minutes, and after loading departed Rockhampton at 0354 hours. At 0435 hours, the pilot reported that descent had been commenced into Dysart and because of poor reception on High Frequency radio channels further communications with VH-CLU were relayed by another aircraft in the area, VH-EEF on Very High Frequency channels. After communications with VH-CLU, the pilot of VH-EEF advised Brisbane Flight Service Unit (FSU) at 0453 hours, that the runway lighting was not yet displayed. The runway lighting at Dysart was provided by a number of hand-lit flares. The lighting of these flares was carried out by an employee of the company operating VH-CLU, and normally took about ten minutes. On this occasion the employee had overslept and arrived at the aerodrome at about the same time that the aircraft flew overhead. At 0501 hours further attempts by the pilot of VH-EEF and Brisbane FSU to contact VH-CLU were unsuccessful. The wreckage of the aircraft was later located about 800 metres to the west of the aerodrome. The aircraft had struck trees while heading in a direction aligned with runway 14 but displaced to the west of the runway. It had been destroyed as a result of the impact forces. Witnesses reported that when VH-CLU arrived at Dysart it was not raining, however, low cloud was present. The aircraft was observed to complete three orbits of the aerodrome and at times during these orbits it was obscured by cloud. Both occupants were killed.