Occurrences

Date	Occurrence #	Location	State	Aircraft	Model	Engine	Model	Summary
29/4/2024	OCC3680	South Grafton Aerodrome	NSW	Jabiru	J230-C	Jabiru	3300A	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot was conducting circuits and had made a downwind cal...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot was conducting circuits and had made a downwind call on runway 26. They heard another radio call stating an aircraft overhead the field at 1500 to join circuit for 08. The pilot was puzzled by this as the wind indicated runway 26. By this time, the pilot was on base leg and then proceeded onto final and landed for touch and go when they saw the other aircraft low on final on 08 directly in front of them. The pilot had to take evasive action and turn away at approximately 100 feet to avoid a collision. They then proceeded to resume their circuit.
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.
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.
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.
27/3/2024	OCC3627	Port Macquarie Aerodrome	NSW	Jabiru	SP470	Jabiru	2200	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: While performing circuits on an established circuit direction...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: While performing circuits on an established circuit direction of 21 with two other RAAus aircraft, a Jabiru (reporting pilots aircraft) had heard a static filled radio call, barely discernible and thought had heard Taree in the call. Taree (YTRE) is 33 NM South West and shares the same CTAF frequency as YPMQ and it is common to hear aircraft with static. The Jabiru had begun a turn from base to final and observed previous RAAus Aircraft performing touch and goes and turning crosswind and then observed another aircraft (later determined to be a VH registered aircraft) taking off on the reciprocal runway 03. The Jabiru pilot made a radio call "aircraft departing on 03 Jabiru XXXX in conflict", while making this call, the Jabiru pilot observed the taking off aircraft now leaving the center-line and appeared to be turning west. The Jabiru pilot asked if the aircraft is turning, and the taking off aircraft replied "turning west now". The taking off aircraft was continuing to climb and veering West then Northerly. This stopped Jabiru from performing either a continued track on base or a Go-Around for runway 21. The Jabiru pilot determined that the taking off aircraft was now West of the runway but heading now northerly, continuing to climb, so with a Go-Around no longer viable, the Jabiru pilot continued on final without further incident. This occurrence has been referred to CASA for their review/investigation.
13/3/2024	OCC3600	Gawler Training Area	SA	Jabiru	J170-C	Jabiru	2200B	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Whilst completing solo training in the Gawler training area, ...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Whilst completing solo training in the Gawler training area, the student was distracted by another training aircraft and inadvertently entered restricted airspace. A debrief was conducted and a pre area solo brief will be standardised for all future training area solos, including reminders of CTA steps.
10/3/2024	OCC3598	Narrogin	WA	Jabiru	J170	Jabiru	2200	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The motor stopped revving after take-off. There was no power...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The motor stopped revving after take-off. There was no power at 300ft. The pilot landed the aircraft in paddock in front of the airstrip.
2/3/2024	OCC3608	Toowoomba	QLD	Jabiru	J230C	Jabiru 3300	Gen 4	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: RAAus was advised that during approach, the crew of an RPT ob...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: RAAus was advised that during approach, the crew of an RPT observed a Jabiru cross their path. The Jabiru pilot departed Clifton at approx. 0645 EST enroute for Toowoomba – Wellcamp – Pittsworth and return to Clifton. When approaching Cambooya they changed to Toowoomba Broadcast area frequency 127.65Mhz and broadcast intention to overfly Toowoomba. They overflew Toowoomba at 5300 feet approx. then tracked towards Wellcamp on descent to 4500 feet and made a radio call that they were tracking Toowoomba – Wellcamp for Pittsworth. When approaching Wellcamp the pilot heard an inbound call from an RPT aircraft inbound via “OMBAS”. The pilot communicated with the RPT pilot and following a response, the RPT pilot appeared confused about which aircraft was overhead Wellcamp and which aircraft was operating at Wellcamp. The Jabiru pilot then informed the RPT pilot that it was enroute to Pittsworth and that the other aircraft was actually doing circuits at Wellcamp. The Jabiru pilot then began to try to identify the location of “OMBAS” on their VTC. As confusion now existed as to the location of the RPT aircraft and The Jabiru radio conversation with the RPT pilot about who was going to Pittsworth, the Jabiru pilot thought that Pittsworth was the location where the RPT aircraft was going to be, so decided to avoid a head on conflict. They elected to turn to the north west and head towards Oakey to remain north of the runway centre line and the area to the South and South West of Wellcamp and therefore avoid crossing his inbound path and to avoid any conflict. They were very alert and looking for the RPT but at no time did they see it and assumed that they had missed it whilst trying to locate “OMBAS” on the map. At this stage the Jabiru was still slowly descending for their planned height of 3000 feet to track onwards to Pittsworth. When about 5 to 7 mile from Wellcamp and nearing the boundary of Oakey airspace they felt they were now well clear of any aircraft conflict and commenced a turn towards Pittsworth. The Jabiru plot heard no further transmissions from the RPT pilot after their initial two radio communication calls whilst the Jabiru was overhead Wellcamp at 4800 feet. The Jabiru continued their flight to Pittsworth – Felton and returned to Clifton.
25/2/2024	OCC3610	Shellharbour	NSW	Jabiru	J230-D	Jabiru	3300	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot had commenced a decent from 5500' just north of Fla...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot had commenced a decent from 5500' just north of Flagstaff point along the coast to get below the CTA step when they noticed an aircraft about 5nm and approx. 1000' below in their 12 o'clock. The aircraft was travelling in an erratic pattern, possibly doing aerobatics and was in their path as they were planning to turn westward to track to YWBN. Because of their focus on this aircraft and wanting to avoid a possible collision the pilot did not realise they had crossed into the 4500' CTA step. The pilot did hear SYD CTR advising them that they were in CTA and to commence an immediate descent, they responded to this call acknowledging CTR and starting a steep descent. About a minute later and well under the 4500' shelf the pilot noted that they had not switched to COM 1 (SYD CTR) and mistakenly broadcast their response on 127.3.
16/2/2024	OCC3580	Murray Bridge Aerodrome	SA	Jabiru	LSA 55/3J	Jabiru	2200B	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The lesson consisted of circuits with the student flying low ...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The lesson consisted of circuits with the student flying low passes along the runway without landing to practice directional control. The runway in use was 02 and the wind was <5kt with no crosswind component. The student was demonstrating greatly improved directional control of the aircraft as the lesson progressed. On the last landing to full stop the instructor told the student the instructor would fly the final approach and landing but asked them to follow on the flight controls to experience the feel of the transition from stabilised flight above the runway to landing. The approach was ideal and the main gear touched the runway at ~65kt 50 metres from the threshold. At this point the student suddenly pulled the stick back hard and the instructor was unable to counter this quickly enough with their right hand. The aircraft rose about a metre into the air again but with insufficient airspeed to maintain flight landed heavily on all gear, damaging the nosewheel oleo under the vertical force with consequential prop tip damage from runway contact. Braking action arrested the roll on the runway centreline at taxiway Bravo. RAAus interview with the instructor indicated there was no expectation of this input from the student and they have debriefed with the CFI about ensuring clear communications with students about who is in command during nominated phases of the training.
15/2/2024	OCC3677	Holbrook Aerodrome	NSW	Jabiru	J230	Jabiru	3300A	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Final approach lost elevator control and landed heavy on the ...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Final approach lost elevator control and landed heavy on the main gear and nose gear and bent nose leg no other damage.
10/2/2024	OCC3605	Dubbo Aerodrome	NSW	Jabiru	J230-D	Jabiru	3300A	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: While descending to Dubbo at approx. 15nm, an aircraft was ob...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: While descending to Dubbo at approx. 15nm, an aircraft was observed on TCAS, 1-2nm northwest of the 05/23 centreline at approx. 1000 ft AGL. Shortly afterward, ML CTR advised that an unidentified VFR aircraft was operating in the circuit and unconfirmed callsign. The RPT made numerous calls on CTAF and one call on ML CTA freq. to establish contact with the aircraft but no reply was received. The RPT diverted to the northeast and held 2000 ft above the runway (1000 ft above the Jabiru) to overfly for a wide crosswind leg Rwy 05 (W/V on AWIB 080/16). Additional circuit calls were made to alert Jabiru. Visual contact was made with the aircraft from early downwind position, and they observed that the Jabiru was positioning for a close-in final Runway 11. They continued to fly the circuit while maintaining visual contact with the Jabiru through its landing and until it vacated Runway 11. The aircraft temporarily entered Runway 05 to allow it to complete a 180 deg turn prior to backtracking Runway 11. The RPT was at approx. 600 ft on final approach, when this occurred and poised for a missed approach until it became clear that the Jabiru had cleared Rwy 05 and was established on its backtrack… They landed on Rwy 05 without conflict. After landing and while backtracking Rwy 05, the Jabiru was heard to report “clear of all runways”. This was the only transmission heard from the Jabiru. RAAus interviewed the Jabiru pilot who advised of a radio issue he was trying to correct. We discussed the CASR 91.245 requirement to confirm the radio was transmitting and receiving and the pilot will make use of AWIS and AFRU to confirm the radio is serviceable for the future.
5/2/2024	OCC3576	Roseworthy	SA	Jabiru	J170-D	Jabiru	2200B	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot inadvertently flew into restricted airspace due to ...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The pilot inadvertently flew into restricted airspace due to a map reading error.
5/2/2024	OCC3560	Albany Aerodrome	WA	Jabiru	J170-C	Jabiru	Gen 4	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Aircraft suffered a significant loss of power while taking of...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: Aircraft suffered a significant loss of power while taking off. This occurred at ~150-200 ft altitude AGL. Throttle was closed and aircraft landed with half flap on the remaining runway without incident. Engine continued to run at idle and subsequent run up to full power on the apron appeared to be functioning normally. The upper cowl was removed, inspection revealed nothing. Subsequent run up appeared normal. Five circuits were then flown without incident. This aircraft has a long history of suffering from carburetor ice. Relative humidity at the time was high 90s and sky was 3-4 octas of cumulus with bases at ~3500 ft. Under such conditions this aircraft is always operated with carb heat ON and that was the situation this morning. Start up, warm up, run up and take off were all conducted with carb heat ON however there have had previous similar events where the carb ice heat system was insufficient to prevent ice. In those instances the engine just ran a bit rough after take-off however in this incident the power loss was such that flight could not have been maintained.
21/1/2024	OCC3550	Muchea/Greenside	WA	Jabiru	J170-C	Jabiru	J2200	OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The Instructor was undertaking a Stalls lesson with a student...
OCCURRENCE DETAILS SUBMITTED TO RAAUS: The Instructor was undertaking a Stalls lesson with a student. Approx. 50 minutes into the flight at a location approx. 15NM north of YGSD and 3500'AGL, after conducting a stall, the student attempted to recover using power but the engine only revved up to 2300 RPM and ran lumpy. The lesson was immediately terminated and returned to YGSD by the shortest route. After engine recovery steps made no impact on the engine performance, removing carb heat and then cycling the throttle made the engine recover power as per normal. The aircraft was landed without further incident and the aircraft was taxied back to the hangar. Inspection of the engine found that the idle mixture adjustment screw had worked loose to 3 1/2 turns from closed (should be 3/4 of a turn), and the O ring on the needle was worn which would have reduced the friction on the needle allowing it to rotate when the engine was running.