Australia

The engine failed and burst into flames during a skydiving display off Manly Beach, northeast of Sydney. Eight parachutists baled out, followed by pilot Ken Andrews (owner of Skyservice Aviation) at 5,000 feet who was wearing a parachute. As he floated down under his parachute the circling Norseman came very close to hitting him. All were rescued by boats. The Norseman struck the sea 6 miles off the beach, 5 miles southeast off Sydney Heads.
Souce: Geoff Goodall

At approximately 1935 hours EST on 6 May, 1969 an Aero Commander 500S aircraft, registered VH-EXT, struck the ground and crashed 2 miles west of Warracknabeal Aerodrome, Victoria, while making an approach to land at that aerodrome. The aircraft was owned and operated by Executive Air Services Pty. Ltd. of Melbourne and at the time of the accident it was engaged on a scheduled passenger commuter service between Essendon and Warracknabeal. The pilot, Allan James WALKER, and one passenger received minor injuries. A second passenger, the only other occupant, was seriously injured. The aircraft was virtually destroyed by impact forces. The pilot, aged 28 years, held a Current Commercial Pilot Licence, which was endorsed for the Aero Commander type of aircraft. He was the holder of a Class One Instrument Rating and this rating had been renewed after a flight test on 2 April, 1969. His total flying experience amounted to 5427 hours and of this, 966 hours had been flown on Aero Commander aircraft. He had recorded totals of 335 hours of instrument flying and 292 hours of night flying. The aircraft was operating under a current certificate of airworthiness and there is no evidence to indicate that the aircraft was other than in an airworthy condition. There is no evidence that the gross weight of the aircraft and the position of the centre of gravity were other than within the specified limits throughout the flight. The weather at Warracknabeal at the time of the accident was fine. There was no cloud and the wind was from the south east at 10 to 15 knots. The night visibility, that is, the distance at which prominent lighted objects could be seen and recognised, was reported to be 20 miles but it was a very dark night and there was virtually no visible horizon. The aircraft departed Essendon at 1836 hours using the procedures applicable to flight under the Instrument Flight Rules. The night to Warracknabeal at 6,500 feet was uneventful and the pilot commenced descent when the aircraft was approximately 40 miles from that destination. During the descent he observed the lights of the town of Warracknabeal and the lighting at the aerodrome. After entering the circuit the pilot commenced a downwind leg for a landing towards the east on runway 08. He made a left turn onto base leg and noted the indicated altitude as 1, 000 feet and at that altitude the clearance between the aircraft and the local terrain should have been slightly more than 600 feet. On the base leg of the circuit the pilot was unable to see the runway lights and being unsure of his position, he elected to conduct a go around. He did not retract the undercarriage, which had been extended earlier in preparation for landing, and the pilot continued the second circuit at 1, 000 feet indicated altitude rather than climbing to establish 1, 000 feet terrain clearance which would have been the normal procedure. He flew over the non-directional beacon, which is located approximately 300 yards north of the western end of the runway on which he intended to land arid he then positioned the aircraft for the downwind leg of the circuit.

Flight 1750 was a scheduled domestic flight from Perth to Port Hedland in the State of Western Australia. Whilst taxiing for take-off on runway 02 at Perth Airport, the crew received and acknowledged an air traffic clearance communicated by Perth Tower. Of the alternative clearances offered, the pilot-in-command elected to proceed via the 030° radial of the Perth Very High Frequency Omni-Range (VOR), to Ballidu, whilst climbing to FL 170. Take-off was normal and the crew reported the departure time as 0836 hours Western Standard Time. At 0839 hours the pilot-in-command reported that he was climbing at an indicated airspeed of 155 kt, instead of the 175 kt proposed in the flight plan, because of turbulence which he first encountered at 1 500 ft. During this climb the co-pilot also advised Perth that the aircraft would continue its climb beyond the proposed FL 170 and cruise at FL 190. Apart from these minor changes to the flight plan the aircraft continued normally along the intended route with position reports being transmitted as scheduled to Perth Flight Service Centre, Meekatharra Flight Service Unit and Port Hedland Flight Service Centre. At 1114 hours the aircraft advised Port Hedland that it was abeam Wittenoom Gorge at FL 190 and that its estimated time of arrival at Port Hedland was 1142 hours. At 1120 hours the flight advised that it would be commencing its descent from FL 190 in three minutes and at 11-34 hours it reported that it was 30 miles by Distance Measuring Equipment south of Port Hedland-and had left 7 000 ft on descent. The flight service officer at Port Hedland acknowledged this message and transmitted the surface wind and temperature conditions and the altimeter setting for landing at Port Hedland. When this communication was not acknowledged further calls were made but no further communication from the aircraft was heard or recorded. At about the time that the aircraft failed to respond to the radio communication, two persons, each in different positions, saw the aircraft descending rapidly and steeply although these observations were made from distances of 44 and 64 miles respectively. Neither of these eyewitnesses was able to observe any impact with the ground because of intervening high terrain. At 1212 hours a Cessna 337 aircraft left Port Hedland to search along the route which the aircraft had been expected to follow and, eleven minutes later, the pilot of the search aircraft saw the burning wreckage of the Viscount aircraft, close to the intended route. Approximately one hour later a ground party from Port Hedland reached the scene of the accident. The location of the wreckage was later determined to be 28.1 miles on a bearing of 184' true from Port Hedland Airport. The aircraft was totally destroyed and none of the 26 occupants survived the crash.

The crew was performing a local training flight at Lovely Banks Aerodrome, northwest of Geelong, Victoria. During the last segment, the level off was completed to high and the airplane struck the ground with its right main gear. Both occupants were uninjured but the aircraft was later considered as damaged beyond repair due to serious structure damages on the right wing.

While flying at an altitude of 1,300 feet, the pilot encountered atmospheric turbulences. The airplane initiated an uncontrolled descent until it struck the water surface off Carlisle Island. The pilot was rescued while the airplane sank and was lost.

The pilot Colin Pay was involved in a local crop dusting operations. On takeoff, the airplane struck a fence and a tractor then crashed inverted in flames. The pilot was unhurt while the aircraft was destroyed.

The aircraft had been carrying out magnetometer survey flights from the airport for several weeks. It departed at 06:30 hours local time, reaching the survey area an hour later. At 07:50 the Doppler equipment became unserviceable and a little later light rain was encountered. The survey work was abandoned and the flight returned to Tennant Creek. At 09:14 the crew radioed that they were in the circuit area. Wind was reported to be from 070° at 14 knots. The acknowledgement of this information was the last contact with the flight. A minute later, the twin engine aircraft crashed in a prairie located 2 miles west of the runway 07 threshold.The aircraft was totally destroyed and all six on board were killed, among them a child aged 11. An examination of wreckage showed that one of the duplicated aileron control chains in the pilot's control column was broken in the region of the control wheel sprocket. A link pin had failed and this pin might have subsequently jammed the assembly as the control wheel was being rotated. Control could not be taken over by the copilot, as there was no copilot on the flight. The right hand cockpit seat and rudder pedals were removed so a crew member was able to gain access to the nose area of the aircraft for the survey work.

On 22 September 1966, the Viscount 832 aircraft registered VH-RMI, was engaged on a regular public transport service, designated Flight 149, from Mt. Isa to Longreach in Queensland, Australia, with a crew of four and twenty passengers on board. The flight departed from Mt. Isa at 1208 hours Australian Eastern Standard Time climbing to Flight Level 175 with an expected time interval of 73 minutes to Longreach. The flight progressed, apparently uneventfully, until 1252 hours when the Longreach Flight Service Unit heard the crew of VH-RMI say that it was on an emergency descent and to stand by. Two minutes later the aircraft advised that there were fire warnings in respect of Nos. 1 and 2 engines, that one of these warning conditions had ceased and that the propeller of the other engine could not be feathered. At 1259 hours information from the crew of VH-RMI, relayed to Longreach through the crew of another aircraft in the vicinity, indicated that there was a visible fire in No. 2 engine and that the aircraft was diverting below 5 000 ft to Winton. The town of Winton is located some 20 miles to port of the planned track and is 90 miles short of Longreach. No further communications were received from the aircraft but at 1303 hours a number of people located in the Winton area saw black smoke in the air west of the town, and it was subsequently established that this was associated with VH-RMI which had crashed in light timber on level ground some 131 miles short of the Winton aerodrome. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 24 occupants have been killed.

Take off was abandoned when, in moderate quartering wind, the pilot was unable to maintain directional control. The aircraft moved sideways off the strip and both undercarriage struts were torn away after striking rocks. All three occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was considered as damaged beyond repair.

Crashed in unknown circumstances at Brisbane-Archerfield Airport while completing a local training flight with skydivers. Both occupants were uninjured while the aircraft was considered as damaged beyond repair.