Occurrences

Date	Occurrence #	Location	State	Aircraft	Model	Engine	Model	Summary
26/10/2022	OCC2998	Gawler Aerodrome	SA	Jabiru	J170-C	Jabiru	2200B	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Landing with a blustering crosswind, the pilot side slipped ...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Landing with a blustering crosswind, the pilot side slipped to correct for crosswind, landed too quickly, oscillated, and damaged propeller. The pilot had made sound decisions not to fly earlier based on conditions but was convinced by other experienced instructors that her skill level was to an appropriate standard. Conditions had worsened during the take off roll and the pilot elected to terminate the flight following a successful circuit. During the landing the aircraft bounced and subsequently developed a pilot induced oscillation where the propellor had struck the ground. This was later identified in a post landing inspection. Pilots are reminded to apply conservative personal minimums in flight decision and adhere to them at all times, especially where factors such as limited experience or changing environmental conditions exist.
24/10/2022	OCC3002	Caboolture Aerodrome	QLD	Airborne	XT 912	Rotax	912 U L	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Students first flight from the front seat, E of C. The fligh...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Students first flight from the front seat, E of C. The flight was uneventful with good inputs and understanding from the student. A prelanding brief was completed on the downwind leg in preparation for landing. It was confirmed that the instructor had full control of the aircraft. (Part of the brief in a trike is to make sure the student has both feet off the throttle and brake) The landing was uneventful. They landed on grass right next to the main runway. (The surface was hard grassed and wet) Approx. 20 to 30 metres after touch down and tracking straight the trike slowly started to veer to the left and shortly after started skidding to the right. The instructor told the student to get their foot off the brake and tried to steer into the skid, but at this stage they crossed the main runway and the surface changed from damp grass to dirt, at this point the trike rolled over to the right onto its wing and pod, they were now on their side. They skidded about two car lengths on their side finishing at 90 degrees to their ordinal direction. With help they righted the trike and push it off the runway. DETERMINED OUTCOME: Primary cause - unintentional intervention with braking system by student during landing. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: First flight from front seat of the tandem microlight with no braking override control for instructor. Student was wearing footwear that compromised the feel and tactility of the foot controls which resulted in comprised control in the landing rollout despite checks and communications by the instructor.
21/10/2022	OCC2999	Caboolture	QLD	Fly Synthesis	Texan 550	Rotax	912 ULS	Consequential to the replacement of a slightly worn wing pin, all 8 M8 wing pin lock-nuts (on 4 wing...
Consequential to the replacement of a slightly worn wing pin, all 8 M8 wing pin lock-nuts (on 4 wing pins) were subsequently found to have partial or completely stripped threads. A concern that the aircraft has been previously maintained by reputable aircraft maintenance companies led to further investigations and tests to determine how and why the lock-nuts were in this condition. As a result, it would appear that the problem is highly likely to have been repeated on other Texan aircraft that have had wings removed or wing pins replaced or torqued IAW manufacturer specifications.
17/10/2022	OCC2984	Devonport	TAS	Jabiru	J-120			OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: While conducting the pre-flight inspection the pilot noted t...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: While conducting the pre-flight inspection the pilot noted the bolts holding the flaps on were excessively rusted and as they turned the bolts, parts of the nuts disintegrated and fell off. They noted the propellor tips were delaminating and there were rust stains on top of the wings along with excessive oil stains on the underside of the fuselage.
17/10/2022	OCC2985	Caboolture Aerodrome	QLD	Austflight ULA	Drifter 503	Rotax	503	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot taxied a Drifter for runway 29 which the wind favo...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot taxied a Drifter for runway 29 which the wind favoured by 5 knots or so and made a taxy call on 125.85 CTAF for runway 29. They heard advice from a ground station that mowing operations were in progress. They made a further call "Lining up runway 29 for circuits" and heard no responses. Upon becoming airborne the pilot observed a Mooney rolling on runway 11 and they rejected their take-off and backtracked. The Drifter climbed to ultralight circuit height of 500'and held abeam the 11 threshold whilst the Mooney departed. The Drifter pilot did not hear their line-up call and their subsequent transmissions were unreadable. It transpires that the Drifter radio was at fault. Conflicting runway operations due to radio serviceability issues. Headset connection issues are common and are part of the integrity of VHF systems. Pilots are reminded to regularly check serviceability of VHF equipment, particularly at aerodromes where use is mandated such as in this case. Alerted see and avoid is still underpinned by an effective lookout even when on the ground to ensure any collision risk is mitigated.
16/10/2022	OCC2981	Ballarat Aerodrome	VIC	Tecnam	P2002 Sierra	Rotax	912 ULS	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Instructor and student noticed unusual nose wheel shimmy dur...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Instructor and student noticed unusual nose wheel shimmy during a lesson of touch 'n go circuits. Elected to call for a full stop landing and to end the lesson. Once the aircraft had landed on the active runway, lack of directional control noted by instructor who took control of the aircraft. The instructor established control and taxied clear of the runway. Once the aircraft was shutdown it was that the front nose wheel tube had deflated. The aircraft and the rim of the tyre sustained NIL damage and was secured in the hanger. The incident has been noted on the maintenance release.
16/10/2022	OCC2991	Corowa Aerodrome	NSW	Morgan Aeroworks	Cheetah Sierra 200	Jabiru	3300	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Landing on RWY 23 at Corowa, main landing gear touched down ...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Landing on RWY 23 at Corowa, main landing gear touched down at 60kts as normal and uneventfully, when the nose wheel touched down some seconds later it instantly folded backwards under the front of the aircraft breaking off, this not surprisingly caused the front of the aircraft to drop to the ground and slide on its nose for approximately 30 meters. The pilot and passenger did not sustain any injuries.
15/10/2022	OCC2986	Childers Aerodrome	QLD	Rans	S-6	Rotax	912 ULS	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot was taxiing the aircraft up and down the runway ge...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot was taxiing the aircraft up and down the runway getting used to ground control of the tailwheel aircraft as the majority of their flying is nose wheel. They had just turned at the end of runway 10 and had proceeded to start another run when an unexpected wind gust lifted the aircraft off the ground and caused it to roll severely to the left. The pilot levelled the aircraft and at that point was up around 20 feet AGL the nose dropped as they went to full power, they tried to level the aircraft from its decent and at that point struck the ground. The impact tore the left undercarriage off and broke the right wheel off and then the nose hit the ground. DETERMINED OUTCOME: Loss of Control while taxiing aircraft. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: Limited experience on type and environmental conditions. Pilots' converting to tail wheel aircraft should not undertake any command flight until fully competent in a range of conditions and operations. Light weight, low inertia tail wheel aircraft are highly vulnerable to to low energy take off incidents as the resting angle of attack of the wing exceeds that required for take off. Pilots should undertake dual training with specialist TW instructors until deemed competent to standard 2 in the RAAus syllabus which references uncontrolled environments and conditions.
10/10/2022	OCC2977	Wagga Wagga Aerodrome	NSW	Tecnam	P92 Eaglet	Rotax	912 ULS	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: A PA28 aircraft joined on crosswind leg for runway 05 from t...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: A PA28 aircraft joined on crosswind leg for runway 05 from the dead side of the circuit, behind another PA28. An RAAus instructor and student were conducting circuits in a P92 Eaglet at the time were on upwind of the same circuit and were immediately cut off by the PA28 passing just above them as they joined their crosswind leg. The student and instructor did not need to take immediate evasive maneuvers due to early identification of the offending aircraft, however the circuit legs had to be extended significantly in order to facilitate the additional at-fault aircraft. Later identification of the offending aircraft would have required evasive maneuvers on our part. RAAus SUMMARY: Contacted the training school and provided feedback on the report received. School advised that they would debrief the students involved in the above occurrence.
6/10/2022	OCC2976	Gunnedah Aerodrome	NSW	Jabiru	UL 450	Jabiru	2200A	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The owner of the aircraft is converting from GA to RAAus In ...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The owner of the aircraft is converting from GA to RAAus In their own aircraft. They did a slightly heavy landing. The instructor took over; did a go around, and they decided to call it a day. The instructor did the next landing unaware that the left-hand main undercarriage wheel was missing. The touchdown was uneventful, but the aircraft leant to the left and made a grinding sound. They knew something on the undercarriage was missing but didn't know what. The instructor managed to keep roughly on the center line until the rudder and nose wheel ran out of authority. The aircraft slowly turned left and stopped on the edge of the runway at right angles to the center line. No damage to the aircraft other than the left-hand wheel was missing. RAAus Summary - Pilot and Instructor both reminded that armature built aircraft cannot be used for initial flight training, only ratings and endorsements. Damage to wheel is a result of fatigue along with possible heavy landing. Pilots reminded to toughly check wheels, including rims in future as part of pre-flight checks as this could have identified cracking resulting in replacement before failure.
26/9/2022	OCC2969	Heck Field	QLD	Jabiru	J230-B	Jabiru	3300	The amateur built aircraft was presented to be flown by the owner as part of recurrency training & c...
The amateur built aircraft was presented to be flown by the owner as part of recurrency training & checking as a private flight which was agreed to sometime earlier. On initial inspection, while the aircraft was essentially airworthy it had been hangered un-flown for over 12 months and the wing was heavily covered in dust and the elevator junction seam tape was heavily degraded. The owner confirmed all relevant service bulletins had been complied with and maintenance was up to date. During preflight a small presence of water was found in the header drain and on enquiry it was discovered the avgas 100LL was also over 12 months old despite ground and taxi runs being conducted during the period. Subsequent drains cleared any further water from the system. Despite raising these concerns, the aircraft was deemed airworthy and a thorough pre brief was discussed and agreed regarding this return to service flight and the owner/ pilot's uncurrent state in the single control centre stick aircraft with under seat throttles. The aircraft passed all run up checks and take off was normal but on climb out a noticeable vibration was being felt through the rudder pedals which the pilot queried with the owner for normality. The owner was unconvincing as to the normalcy of the vibration, which the pilot didn’t believe was associated with the nose wheel, so they made a command decision to terminate the flight, which was successfully done with the owner in control under their supervision.
24/9/2022	OCC2973	Port Lincoln Aerodrome	SA	Rainbow Aircraft (Skyreach)	Cheetah XLS	Jabiru	2200A	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Aircraft had just completed full annual inspection and engin...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Aircraft had just completed full annual inspection and engine service (200 hours TTAE) and was ready to be picked up. Engine run-ups were performed and T&P's checked. All seemed to be ok. Aircraft was topped with fuel and readied for departure. After taxi call, the aircraft was taxied to runway 06. Power up and take-off run was normal as expected. During the initial climb there was a sudden loss of power and the engine stopped. The pilot looked forward for a landing area but saw a small paddock with fences running across it. The glide path was going to end up in the fence. The pilot envisioned that they would be hitting the fence and flipping over. At that point they decided to return to the airport and land on the grass. The touchdown was successful and the aircraft was rolling out and slowing down OK, until they noticed a ditch across their path. The pilot was unable to avoid the ditch and the nose wheel landed in the ditch and broke, tipping the aircraft nose down and breaking the propeller. OUTCOME: An inspection conducted by an RAAus L2 (and LAME) identified that the engine was found to contain unknown foreign debris in cylinders 1 & 3 which caused a partial power loss on departure. The source of the debris was unable to be determined. Damage caused by the debris required replacement of 2 cylinders, pistons, and associated valves. Review of this occurrence also revealed the pilot did not hold a current BFR and was suspended from further flight until a BFR was completed.
21/9/2022	OCC3214	Portland Aerodrome	VIC	Jabiru	SK	Jabiru	2200A	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: During landing the nose the touchdown was harder than expect...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: During landing the nose the touchdown was harder than expected resulting in the nose wheel compressing causing a propeller strike on gravel runway surface. OUTCOME: Aircraft has been repaired in accordance with Jabiru technical manual and the pilot will be completing further coaching by an experienced Jabiru SK120 pilot.
20/9/2022	OCC2956	Lismore Aerodrome	NSW	Jabiru	160-C	Jabiru	2200 B	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: During a period of circuits and just after touchdown prepari...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: During a period of circuits and just after touchdown preparing for a touch and go, a gusting crosswind was experienced. The aircraft veered left and the right wing rose causing the propellor to tip the ground.
20/9/2022	OCC2959	Armidale Aerodrome	NSW	Jabiru	J200-B	Jabiru	3300A	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Whilst conducting CCTs as part of a BFR, the engine began t...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Whilst conducting CCTs as part of a BFR, the engine began to run rough, intermittent power/loss of power and on late final stopped altogether. Once landed the engine started and was taxied off the runway under its own power. Weather clear, easterly wind. Pre-flight checks were done including water check and that sufficient fuel for the exercise. During an investigation post incident, it was found that there was a small amount of water in the header tank. There was still a full header tank and at least 15 litres on fuel on board, indicating not a fuel starvation issue.