Occurrences

Date	Occurrence #	Location	State	Aircraft	Model	Engine	Model	Summary
16/4/2024	OCC3658	Preston Beach	WA	Aeropilot	Legend 600	Rotax	912 ULS	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot was flying for pleasure in ideal conditions when th...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot was flying for pleasure in ideal conditions when there was a sudden noise from the rear of the aircraft accompanied by strong vibration felt in the rudder pedals lasting only a few seconds. Power was reduced, a loud impact was heard at the rear of the aircraft followed by total loss of control. The ballistic parachute was deployed immediately, ignitions and master off, the aircraft then settled in a steep nose down attitude suspended under the parachute. The descent was quite gentle but impact with a tree on descent caused some damage and the subsequent impact with the ground severely damaged the aircraft. The pilot and passenger remained secure in the harnesses and escaped the wreckage un-injured. The minor cuts and scrapes occurred in crawling out of the wreckage due to contact with very sharp exposed carbon fibre edges.
14/4/2024	OCC3671	Camden Aerodrome	NSW	Piper	J-3C-65	Continental	A-65	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot started the aircraft for circuits prior to receivin...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot started the aircraft for circuits prior to receiving clearance at a Class D aerodrome. The aircraft is not fitted with electric start mechanism. RAAus followed up and confirmed the pilot was compliant under CASA requirements to operate in controlled airspace and for the future would ensure contact with the tower and start clearance is obtained prior to starting the aircraft.
14/4/2024	OCC3655	Dubbo	NSW	Jabiru	J230	Jabiru	Gen 4 3300	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: During the flight, the pilot heard a bang and the aircraft sh...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: During the flight, the pilot heard a bang and the aircraft shook violently. At first, the pilot thought they had collided with a large bird. The pilot disabled the autopilot and checked the readings, and temps and oil pressure were normal but RPM was erratic. The pilot closed the throttle to idle and made an immediate turn for Dubbo. Approximately 15nm east of Dubbo airport, the pilot contacted ATC with a Pan Pan. After 1-2 mins the prop began to spin slower than the RPM and was causing an excessive sink rate. The pilot switched to a MAYDAY call as the airframe was shaking even worse and affecting controls. The pilot made an uneventful landing into a paddock. The pilot shutdown the aircraft and advised ATC of landing.
14/4/2024	OCC3668	Near hanger after taxing after landing on 14 at Wombalong	NSW	Sayer	Corby Starlet	Jabiru	2200	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: DEFECT: The main tailwheel leaf spring broke at after bolt on...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: DEFECT: The main tailwheel leaf spring broke at after bolt on fuselage and tailwheel assembly fell off the aircraft as a result. Only discovered after taxiing back to the hanger. The airframe has around 460 hours total time. Pre-flight inspection includes inspection of the leafspring attachment to the fuselage for cracks in the timber. There was no indication of the leaf spring crack at the pre-flight inspection. The tailwheel assembly was recovered/found the next day by the pilot of a J200 taxiing to take off on 32.
13/4/2024	OCC3656	Parkes Aerodrome	NSW	Sonex	Legacy	Rotax	912 ULS	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot was taxiing the aircraft from the parking area to e...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot was taxiing the aircraft from the parking area to exit the gate onto the sealed apron. They manoeuvred the aircraft to avoid the right hand side yellow marker cone, lost sight of the left side marker cone, resulting in the propeller striking the cone. The pilot stopped the aircraft and shut down the engine. The pilot exited the aircraft, pulled it to a position so as not to obstruct other aircraft, inspected the propeller, airframe & undercarriage.
12/4/2024	OCC3665	Adelaide Aerodrome	SA	Alpi Aviation	Pioneer 200	Rotax	912 ULS	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot mistook communications to mean that they had to hol...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot mistook communications to mean that they had to hold before the runway hold point. The pilot was in the process of stopping when they were asked to stop. They must have been almost on top of the required hold point when ground gave them the instruction to hold short of taxiway.
12/4/2024	OCC3670	Murwillumbah	NSW	BRM Aero	Bristell S-LSA	Rotax	912 ULS	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot was turning base leg for the approach for runway wh...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot was turning base leg for the approach for runway when an alarm sounded on the TCAS. The aircraft was very close and at the same altitude. The pilot did not know if it was transiting or on approach to land. There was no local broadcast from the aircraft. The pilot made a call on local frequency numerous times seeking their intentions with no response. The pilot made a quick decision to turn left away from the path of the other aircraft as they were just below the 1500ft step. As they turned, they broke into the class C area. As soon as they did, they immediately descended to 1300ft and completed the orbit where the other aircraft passed by without incident.
12/4/2024	OCC3657	Port Macquarie	NSW	Jabiru	SP6	Jabiru	3300	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot inadvertently switched off the master switch before...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot inadvertently switched off the master switch before the engine shutdown causing the alternator to overpower and fail.
12/4/2024	OCC3650	Caloundra Aerodrome	QLD	The Airplane Factory	Sling 2	Rotax	912 ULS	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Sling 2 was established in the circuit and Sling 4 was establ...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Sling 2 was established in the circuit and Sling 4 was established on base when a VH registered RV6-A flew directly over the threshold runway from an east to west direction. The RV6-A was turning a left downwind, the opposite runway to the right-hand circuit. The Sling 2 was about to turn downwind when the RV6-A was heading for them. Instructor made 2 radio attempts to alert the RV6-A. The pilot of the RV6-A took action replying with “affirmative, I read you 5 turning right for right downwind”. They then proceeded to depart the circuit and back to the aircraft’s base.
9/4/2024	OCC3642	Caloundra Aerodrome	QLD	The Airplane Factory	Sling 2	Rotax	912 ULS	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: During dual circuit training, the first circuit was conducted...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: During dual circuit training, the first circuit was conducted normally with the broadcast for base, down-wind and crosswind turns. The second circuit a helicopter was noted to enter the traffic to the east however no call was heard from the other VH registered aircraft. After the downwind checks had been completed and downwind call made, the VH aircraft was noted at the 2 o'clock position at the same height. Evasive manoeuvres were enacted, with a descending right turn.
8/4/2024	OCC3641	1155 Tuppal Rd Tocumwal	NSW	Tecnam	P2008	Rotax	914 UL2-01	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: RAAus was advised the aircraft collided with terrain after ta...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: RAAus was advised the aircraft collided with terrain after take-off on a private airstrip.
6/4/2024	OCC3646	Jandakot	WA	Air Creation	Tanarg Bionix 13	Rotax	912S	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: During cruise, the crew conducted a forced landing. investig...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: During cruise, the crew conducted a forced landing. investigation revealed the aircraft is now registered with SAFA, no further actions were conducted by RAAus.
4/4/2024	OCC3643	Bendigo Aerodrome	VIC	Aeroprakt	A22LS Foxbat	Rotax	912 ULS	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Student pilot on their first solo bounced whilst landing. Ful...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Student pilot on their first solo bounced whilst landing. Full power was applied and go around performed. Second landing also bounced. Again full power was applied for go around. Indications from the ground showed signs of nosewheel bending. The student pilot was instructed to land and stop engine as severity of damage unknown. Ground inspection of the aircraft showed damage to nosewheel leg, above the shock absorber.
31/3/2024	OCC3640	Esperance	WA	Jabiru	J120-C	Jabiru	2200B	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Before departing Caiguna, the pilot checked the TAF for Esper...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Before departing Caiguna, the pilot checked the TAF for Esperance and it was showing marginal VFR with a TEMPO (one hour of IMC) around Esperance. The pilot had planned to hold and wait for it to pass or thought the rain conditions would've passed by the time they arrived. When they were close to their Point of No Return ( PNR), the pilot attempted to check the radar on OZ Runways but had limited phone range so they couldn't get radar to show up. The Esperance TAF didn't indicate any significant changes so the pilot chose to continue. About 50 NM away from Esperance and long past their PNR, the SPECIs and TAFs started to rapidly change. The pilot contacted Melbourne Centre and requested they keep the pilot up to date with SPECI. The pilot saw a gap where the visibility and the cloud base looked better so they diverted based on past experience in the area. This was determined to be a bad choice as it placed them right in front of the rain band as it was tracking to the north. The pilot tried diverting to Grass Patch West but was cut off by low cloud. The pilot tried to track for Esperance twice but faced IMC so turned back. It was at that point the pilot was approaching personal minimum for fuel. The pilot started preparing for a precautionary landing on a farm laneway as the best option, declared a Pan-Pan and conducted an uneventful forced landing. ATC contact was maintained via relay with an overhead Qantas flight. After some time on the ground and with no contact with the owners of the farm, conditions improved and the pilot decided to continue their flight. Debriefing with the pilot revealed they later realised plan confirmation bias or expectation bias (that similar conditions had been experienced before in the area and the expectation was conditions would improve), led to "get-there-itis" or the tendency to continue on, even though conditions were deteriorating. The pilot acknowledged they should have made an earlier decision to conduct a PFL but were also to be congratulated for making use of all available resources including contact with ATC.
31/3/2024	OCC3632	Mangalore	VIC	Arion	Lightning	Jabiru	3300	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: On flight back from Holbrook to Kyneton, the pilot noticed th...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: On flight back from Holbrook to Kyneton, the pilot noticed that the engine started to run a bit rough with some vibration being felt through the airframe. The plane was still maintaining power, however the pilot took a precautionary turn back to Shepparton about 10NM to their north east. The pilot made a normal landing into Shepparton without incident. On the ground, inspection of the aircraft engine bay and airframe showed no obvious indications of a problem. A run up as well as high power test run was conducted on the ground and it did not reproduce any issues. The pilot called and relayed this to their L2 maintainer and described the inflight issue to them and on reflection concluded that it was possibly due to fuel vaporisation. Noting to L2 maintainer that pilot had topped up at Holbrook with 95 mogas from the local aero club, the action was to fill up the tank with lower fuel with avgas and continue with the flight once ground run up and high power test indicated no issue. Take off and climb over head the airfield was normal with no indications of any engine issue so the pilot continued on track for Kyneton. However, 10 minutes into the flight the aircraft exhibited the same vibration and the pilot could see it was losing RPM. The pilot decided to turn for Mangalore and again landed without incident.