Oceania

The aircraft was refueled with 640 litres (L) of Jet-A1 (AVTUR) in preparation for an early morning departure to Hoskins, New Britain, on 30 March. On 30 March, the crew lodged a flight plan, which stated that the total fuel on board was 2,100 pounds (lbs) (1,208 L). The first sector of the planned route was from Port Moresby to Hoskins. The pilot-in-command (PIC) obtained an area forecast for the flight, which indicated that there were areas of rain and scattered cloud from 1500-5000 feet (ft), with deteriorating conditions forecast for the period between 0400-0800 hours (hrs); for their arrival at Hoskins. The forecast required 30 minutes holding fuel in addition to the flight and statutory fuel requirements. These conditions were normal for their destination at this time of the year.The aircraft departed Port Moresby at 0402, as flight number ND304 for Hoskins. It initially climbed to the planned Flight Level (FL) 140 (14,000 ft), which was 300 ft above the lowest safe altitude (LSA) on the initial RNC track between Port Moresby and Girua, an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) reporting point on the north coast of the PNG mainland. The LSA for the sector between Girua and the en-route reporting point Maran was 3,300 ft, and the PIC had planned to cruise at 9,000 ft. The sector between Maran and Hoskins was planned at 9,000 ft, with a LSA of 8,300 ft. The purpose of the flight was to transport newspapers and general freight to Hoskins and Rabaul. Flight Information Area (FIA) communications with Nadzab Flight Service used High Frequency (HF) radio, and a Very High Frequency (127.1 MHz) repeater transceiver located near the township of Popondetta. This service was usually monitored by Nadzab Flight Service during their normal hours of operation, for aircraft operating on the Girua to Hoskins track. One of the functions of the Nadzab Flight Service Unit was to record all transmissions received via the Girua repeater site. The crew made a position report, intercepted by Port Moresby Flight Service, advising that they were overhead Maran at 0506, cruising at FL 110 (11,000 ft), and gave an estimated time of arrival (ETA) Hoskins at 0540. That was 2,000 ft higher than the planned level. The position report was received by Port Moresby Flight Service, because Nadzab Flight Service had not commenced operations. It subsequently commenced operations for the day at 0540. Because Nadzab was responsible for the airspace in which ALU was operating, Port Moresby Flight Service advised Nadzab of ALU’s position report, once Nadzab opened. The Maran position report was the last recorded radio contact with the aircraft. No transmission declaring the intention to descend below FL110 was heard from the crew of ALU. No MAYDAY transmission was reported by ATS or other aircrew. When the crew of ALU failed to report their arrival at Hoskins, a search was commenced of the Hoskins aerodrome. At 0650 a DISTRESFA Search and Rescue Phase (SAR) was declared indicating the degree of apprehension held for the safety of the aircraft and its occupants. Later that morning verbal reports were received from a coastal logging company in an area east of Kandrian, that an aircraft had crashed. The wreckage of ALU was found 27 km east of Kandrian, at an elevation of 780 ft above sea level. Both crew members had not survived the impact. The wreckage was located at position 06° 11′ 39.8′′ S, 149° 52′ 58.9′′ E, and was dispersed along a 500 m wreckage trail after colliding with numerous trees and impacting the terrain. The investigation estimated the time of the accident to be about 0523.

The pilot was ferrying the aircraft from Tauranga to a Hamilton maintenance facility when one of the engines failed. The pilot elected to turn back to Tauranga but, shortly after, the remaining engine failed. The pilot carried out a forced landing into a tidal estuary. The aircraft incurred substantial damage to the nose landing gear. Subsequent CAA safety investigation determined that on an earlier flight, the aircraft's electrical system incurred a defect that rendered several electrical components unserviceable, including the two tip/main fuel tank selector valves. No engineering inspection or rectification ensued and the operator ferried the aircraft from Great Barrier Island unaware that the engines were being fed from the tip tanks only. The operator departed Tauranga for Hamilton under similar circumstances, reaching the vicinity of the Kaimai Ranges when the tip tanks became empty.

Shortly after takeoff from Rottnest Island Airport, while in initial climb, the twin engine aircraft suffered a bird strike and crashed in a salt lake located near the airport. The aircraft was destroyed upon impact and all six occupants were injured.

The aircraft was being operated on a private category instrument flight rules (IFR) flight from Emerald to Gladstone, Qld. On board the aircraft were the pilot in command and two passengers. One of the passengers was a qualified pilot, but who was not endorsed on the aircraft type. After departing Emerald at 1807 Eastern Standard Time, the pilot contacted air traffic control and reported climbing to 7,000 ft with an estimated time of arrival at Gladstone of 1915. At 1813:25, air traffic control advised the pilot that ZGZ was radar identified 15 NM east of Emerald. At 1815:12, the pilot requested clearance to climb to 9,000 ft. At 1817:05, air traffic control issued a clearance to the pilot for the aircraft to climb 9,000 ft, and to track direct to Gladstone. At 1820:26, the pilot reported level at 9,000 ft and requested clearance to divert up to 10 NM left and right of track to avoid anticipated weather activity ahead. Air traffic control approved that request. At 1830:56, the pilot requested clearance to divert up to 15 NM left and right of track, and 10 seconds later changed the request to 15 NM left of track. Air traffic control approved that request. At 1835:17, the pilot reported clear of the weather and requested clearance to track direct to Gladstone and to descend to 7,000 ft. Air traffic control approved those requests. At 1848:52, the pilot reported at ‘top of descent’ to Gladstone. Air traffic control cleared the pilot to descend. At 1852:45, the pilot reported changing frequency to the Gladstone common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF). Air traffic control advised the pilot that the aircraft was leaving 5,500 ft and that the radar and control services were terminated. The pilot acknowledged that transmission at 1852:57. Approximately 3 minutes later, at 1855:45, air traffic control noticed that the aircraft’s symbol was no longer evident on the air situation display screen and the controller attempted to contact the pilot of the aircraft by radio. The controller also requested pilots of other aircraft operating in the Gladstone area to attempt to contact the pilot of ZGZ on the Gladstone CTAF frequency. All attempts were unsuccessful. A witness in the Raglan area recalled hearing the sound of aircraft engine(s) overhead. He then heard the engine(s) ‘roar and shut off again’ a few times. A short time later, he saw a flash and a few seconds later heard the sound of an explosion. He realised that the aircraft had crashed and telephoned the Gladstone Police. Subsequently, wreckage of the aircraft was located near Raglan, approximately 39 km west of Gladstone. The three occupants were fatally injured. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and post-impact fire.

By night, the twin engine aircraft landed hard at Canberra Airport. There were no injuries but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

On Friday 31 March 2006 the pilot intended to carry out topdressing on properties near a steep hill range nine kilometres to the south-west of Kaitaia. The day’s activities commenced at approximately 0600 hours when the pilot and loaderdriver met at Kaitaia aerodrome. The pilot and loader-driver flew in the aircraft from the aerodrome to a farm airstrip located on the back of a hill range near the Pukepoto Quarry where the fertiliser-loading truck had been parked overnight. The topdressing operation began in the morning with spreading approximately 25 tonnes of superphosphate on nearby farmland which was stored in the fertiliser bins next to the airstrip. As the last of the superphosphate was being spread, a consignment of fresh lime was delivered by a trucking contractor. The topdressing operation continued with the spreading of the lime on another property near the base of the hill range, about three kilometres from the airstrip. At around 1000 hours, while waiting on another delivery of lime by the trucking contractor, the pilot and loader-driver flew in the aircraft to another airstrip about 20 km to the south-east near Broadwood. They repositioned a fertiliser-loading truck located at this airstrip to another airstrip near Pawarenga, in anticipation of the next day’s topdressing. The pilot and loader-driver then flew back to the original farm airstrip near the Pukepoto Quarry, arriving at approximately 1100 hours. At about this time the pilot received a cell phone call from his supervising Chief Pilot. During the conversation he asked the Chief Pilot for his advice about the best direction for spreading lime on the land that he was currently working on. The pilot also commented about how the lime was ‘hanging up’ and not flowing easily from the aircraft’s hopper. The Chief Pilot cautioned the pilot about the poor flow properties of new lime and advised him to spread the lime in line with the hill range, not up the slope. The topdressing operation then resumed until all the lime in the fertiliser bin had been used. The pilot and loader-driver then stopped for lunch during which time the aircraft was refuelled and another truckload of lime was delivered. The pilot had commented to the loader-driver during lunch that the lime was still hanging up in the aircraft’s hopper. He was finding that he needed to complete about two passes to clear the entire load from the hopper. Just before starting the afternoon’s topdressing flights, the pilot had a conversation on his cell phone with a bank manager in Auckland. The conversation concerned the financial position of his topdressing business. The loader-driver reported that the pilot became very agitated during the conversation, but appeared to calm down prior to beginning the afternoon’s flying. The farm-owner observed the aircraft on its first flight of the afternoon as it completed the first two passes. He was aware that the aircraft had flown further away after these two passes and assumed the aircraft was returning to the airstrip for a second load of lime. He did not notice anything abnormal about the aircraft. Other witnesses reported that the aircraft flew parallel with a plantation of 30-40 metre high trees towards the rising hill range. The closest eye witness reported seeing what appeared to be fertiliser dropping from the aircraft as it flew along the tree line up the slope. The dropping of the fertiliser then stopped at which point the aircraft was seen entering a steep right hand turn away from the slope whilst descending towards the ground. The aircraft disappeared in to tall bush on the hillside and witnesses heard the aircraft impact the ground. A large smoke-like cloud was then seen rising up through the bush. On hearing the impact, the farm-owner and a local share-milker from a nearby farm searched the hillside for the aircraft. The aircraft was obscured by the tall bush and was initially difficult to locate. The share-milker made his way down the hillside through the bush to the aircraft. He quickly realised that the pilot was deceased. The farmer-owner went to alert the emergency services, however another property owner who had heard the aircraft strike the ground and seen the smoke had already telephoned the New Zealand Police. The accident occurred in daylight, at approximately 1345 hours NZDT, 9 km south-west of Kaitaia at an elevation of 880 feet AMSL. Latitude: S 35° 10' 26.1", longitude: E 173° 11' 29.4"; grid reference: NZMS 260 N05 283698.

The aircraft was performing a private tour when enroute, the crew decided to divert to Ohakea AFB due to the deterioration of the weather conditions. On final approach, when full flaps was selected, the aircraft rolled left and right. The pilots could not control the aircraft that struck the runway surface and came to rest. While all occupants were uninjured, the aircraft was considered as damaged beyond repair.

On 2 December 2005, at 1122 Eastern Daylight-saving Time, a Piper Aircraft Corporation PA-31-350 Chieftain aircraft, registered VH-PYN (PYN), departed Archerfield, Qld, on a private flight to Griffith, NSW. The flight was planned under the instrument flight rules (IFR). On board the aircraft were the pilot, two passengers and an observer-pilot who was on the flight to gain knowledge of the aircraft operation. The aircraft tracked direct to Moree and then Coonamble at 10,000 ft, in accordance with the flight plan. At 1303, the pilot amended the destination to Swan Hill, Vic, tracking via Hillston, NSW. At 1314, the pilot advised air traffic control that the aircraft had passed overhead Coonamble at 1312 maintaining 10,000 ft, and was estimating Hillston at 1418. At 1316, the pilot reported that he was tracking 5 NM (9 km) left of track due to weather. At 1337, the pilot advised that he was diverting up to 20 NM (37 km) left of track due to weather. At 1348, the pilot reported that he was diverting 29 NM (54 km) left of track, again due to weather. No further radio transmission from the pilot was heard. At about 1400, police received a report that an aircraft had crashed on a property approximately 28 km north of Condobolin, NSW. The extensively burned wreckage was subsequently confirmed as PYN. Other wreckage, spread along a trail up to 4 km from the main wreckage, was located the following day. Examination of air traffic control recorded radar data indicated that the aircraft entered radar coverage about 50 km north of Condobolin at 1346:34. The last valid radar data from the secondary surveillance radar located on Mount Bobbara was at 1349:53. During that 3 minute 19 second period, the recorded aircraft track was approximately 56 km left of the Coonamble to Hillston track and showed a change in direction from southerly to south-westerly. The aircraft’s groundspeed was in the range between 200 and 220 kts. The aircraft’s altitude remained steady at 10,000 ft. The last recorded radar position of the aircraft was approaching the limit of predicted radar coverage and was within 10 km of the location of the main aircraft wreckage. Earlier that day, the aircraft had departed Bendigo, Vic, at 0602 and arrived at Archerfield at 1034. The pilot and the observer-pilot were on board. The aircraft was refuelled to full tanks with 314 litres of aviation gasoline at Archerfield. The refuelling agent reported that the main and auxiliary tanks were full at the completion of refuelling. He also reported that the pilots had commented that the forecast for their return flight indicated that weather conditions would be ‘patchy’.

On 21 November 2005, the day before the accident, the pilot had completed a day of aerial topdressing in ZK-DZG, a New Zealand Aerospace Industries Fletcher FU24-950, then flown the aircraft with his loader-driver as a passenger to Whangarei Aerodrome. That evening the pilot contacted his operator’s (the company’s) chief engineer in Hamilton and said that the airspeed indicator in ZK-DZG was stuck on 80 knots. The chief engineer told him the pitot-static line for the indicator was probably blocked and to have a local aircraft engineer blow out the line. Early the next morning, the day of the accident, the pilot flew ZK-DZG with his loader-driver on board to an airstrip 50 km north-west of Whangarei to spread fertiliser on a farm property. As the morning progressed, the weather conditions became unsuitable for aerial topdressing. At about 1020, the pilot used his mobile telephone to talk to another company pilot at Kerikeri, and told him that the wind was too strong for further work. The conversation included general work-related issues and ended about 1045, with the pilot saying that he was shortly going to return to Whangarei and go to his motel. Before leaving for Whangarei, the pilot spoke with a truck driver who had delivered fertiliser to the airstrip about 1100. The driver commented later that the pilot said the wind had picked up enough to preclude further topdressing. After they had covered the fertiliser, the pilot told the driver that he and the loader-driver would fly to Whangarei. The driver did not recall anything untoward, except that the pilot had casually mentioned there was some electrical fault causing an amber light in the cockpit to flicker and that it would only be a problem if a second light came on. He said the pilot did not appear to be concerned about the light. The driver then left and did not see the aircraft depart. The pilot used his mobile telephone to tell an aircraft engineer at Whangarei Aerodrome about the airspeed indicator problem and asked him if he could have a look at it and blow out the pitot-static system. The engineer believed the call was made from the ground at about 1130, but he could not be certain of the time. The engineer agreed to rectify the problem and the pilot said he would arrive at the Aerodrome about noon. The engineer said he did not know that the pilot had spent the previous night in Whangarei or that the aircraft had been parked at the Aerodrome overnight. ZK-DZG was equipped with a global positioning system (GPS) and its navigation data was downloaded for analysis. From the data it was established that the aircraft departed from the airstrip at 1131 and flew for about 39 km on a track slightly right of the direct track to Whangarei Aerodrome, before altering heading direct to the aerodrome and Pukenui Forest located 5 km west of Whangarei city. A witness who had some aeroplane pilot flying experience, and was on a property close to the track of ZK-DZG, said he saw the aircraft fly past shortly after about 1130 at an estimated height of 500 feet. He watched it fly in the direction of Pukenui Forest for about 40 seconds before turning his head away. A short time later he turned again to look at the aircraft, which by then was just above the horizon about 2 ridges away. He said there was a strong, constant wind blowing from the right (south) of the aircraft, which appeared to be drifting sideways and rocking its wings. He then saw the aircraft enter a steep descending turn that seemed to tighten before it disappeared from view. He estimated it to have turned about 270 degrees. Another witness near the aircraft track and accident site reported seeing the aircraft at about 1140 flying just above the tree line and thought it might have been “dusting” the forest. The aircraft then turned and disappeared behind some trees. Other witnesses who heard or saw the aircraft described the weather as squally throughout the morning with strong winds from the south, and said that near the time of the accident there was no rain. The witnesses noticed nothing untoward with the aircraft itself, and at the time none was concerned that the aircraft may have been involved in an accident. The local aircraft engineer said he was not concerned when ZK-DZG did not arrive at Whangarei, because from his experience it was not unusual for agricultural pilots to change their plans at the last minute and to not inform the engineers. He described his conversation with the pilot as being casual and said the pilot did not mention that he was finishing topdressing for the day because of the weather. He thought the pilot was just trying to fit in the maintenance work and that his plans had changed. The pilot had not asked him to provide any search and rescue watch, nor did the engineer expect him to because he could not recall any pilot having asked him to do so. There was no evidence that the pilot made any radio calls during the flight. The frequency to which the radio was selected and its serviceability could not be determined because of the accident damage. At about 2200 a member of the pilot’s family contacted the emergency services when she became concerned that there had been no contact from the pilot. An extensive aerial search began at first light the next morning, and at about 1120 the wreckage of ZK-DZG was located about 50 metres (m) below a ridge in a heavily wooded area of Pukenui Forest, at an elevation of 920 feet above sea level. Both occupants were fatally injured.

On 8 July 2005, the pilot of a Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain, registered VH-OAO, submitted a visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan for a charter flight from Essendon Airport to Mount Hotham, Victoria. On board the aircraft were the pilot and two passengers. At the time, the weather conditions in the area of Mount Hotham were extreme. While taxiing at Essendon, the pilot requested and was granted an amended airways clearance to Wangaratta, due to the adverse weather conditions at Mount Hotham. The aircraft departed Essendon at 1629 Eastern Standard Time. At 1647 the pilot changed his destination to Mount Hotham. At 1648, the pilot contacted Flightwatch and requested that the operator telephone the Mount Hotham Airport and advise an anticipated arrival time of approximately 1719. The airport manager, who was also an accredited meteorological observer, told the Flightwatch operator that in the existing weather conditions the aircraft would be unable to land. At 1714, the pilot reported to air traffic control that the aircraft was overhead Mount Hotham and requested a change of flight category from VFR to instrument flight rules (IFR) in order to conduct a Runway 29 Area Navigation, Global Navigation Satellite System (RWY 29 RNAV GNSS) approach via the initial approach fix HOTEA. At 1725 the pilot broadcast on the Mount Hotham Mandatory Broadcast Zone frequency that the aircraft was on final approach for RWY 29 and requested that the runway lights be switched on. No further transmissions were received from the aircraft. The wreckage of the aircraft was located by helicopter at 1030 on 11 July. The aircraft had flown into trees in a level attitude, slightly banked to the right. Initial impact with the ridge was at about 200 ft below the elevation of the Mount Hotham aerodrome. The aircraft had broken into several large sections and an intense fire had consumed most of the cabin. The occupants were fatally injured.