2012 Queensland DH.84 Dragon crash

Last updated

2012 Queensland DH.84 Dragon crash
VH-UXG 'Riama' De Havilland DH-84 Dragon (6773207019).jpg
Riama, the DH.84 involved in the accident, photographed in 2010
Accident
DateOctober 1, 2012 (2012-10-01)
Summary Loss of control in poor weather
SiteUpper Kandanga, Queensland, Australia
26°27′21″S152°27′15″E / 26.45583°S 152.45417°E / -26.45583; 152.45417
Aircraft
Aircraft type de Havilland DH.84 Dragon
Aircraft nameRiama
Registration VH-UXG
Flight origin Monto, Queensland, Australia
Destination Caboolture Airfield, Queensland, Australia
Occupants6
Passengers5
Crew1
Fatalities6
Survivors0

On 1 October 2012, Riama, a 1934 vintage de Havilland DH.84 Dragon passenger aircraft, crashed in Queensland, Australia, while flying from Monto to Caboolture. Radio contact was lost about an hour after the pilot reported to be in cloud with zero visibility. The wreckage was found in heavily wooded, hilly terrain two days later. The pilot and five passengers were killed in the accident.

Contents

The investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) found that the pilot most likely fell victim to spatial disorientation and lost control of the aircraft. He was not qualified for instrument flight and the aircraft was not equipped for such operations. The weather at the time was reported as low clouds and rain.

Accident

The aircraft departed from the Norra-Aus Fly-In airshow in Monto a few minutes after 11:00 on a direct track towards Caboolture carrying the pilot and five non-paying passengers. The weather for the flight was expected to be VFR (visual flight rules) conditions with good visibility, high clouds and light winds. At 13:15, the aircraft contacted air traffic control, reporting an approximate position 69 km north of Caboolture and requesting assistance with navigation.

Shortly after, the pilot issued a distress call as the aircraft had entered thick cloud. Controllers in Brisbane then communicated positional information to the aircraft directly and relayed via other pilots in the area due to difficulties with radio reception. A friend of one of the passengers aboard Riama received a phone call from the aircraft, reporting that they were lost in cloud and unable to maintain altitude at around 13:20.

Over the next hour, witnesses in the area around the crash site reported seeing the aircraft flying in and out of cloud at low level. At 13:48, the pilot reported he had one hour of fuel remaining and the last transmission from the aircraft came at 14:04. Neither the aircraft or the pilot were equipped or certified to fly without visual reference to the ground. [1]

A major search and rescue operation was coordinated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), involving as many as 15 helicopters as well as a specialized fixed wing aircraft flown in from Melbourne. The original search area covered an area of some 1500 square kilometers, made difficult by the hilly terrain and dense vegetation. Local residents on motorcycles also offered to help search remote trails. [2] Police officers on horseback also joined the search. AMSA revealed that an emergency beacon had been activated on the aircraft about half an hour before the last contact, but the signal had since been lost. The wreckage was discovered just below a ridge line near Lake Borumba, 36 km south west of Gympie on 3 October with none of the occupants having survived the crash. [3]

Aircraft

At the time of the accident, Riama was one of four airworthy examples of the DH.84 Dragon aircraft in the world. After sitting disassembled in a hangar for many years, the aircraft was restored at Murwillumbah Airport by vintage aircraft specialists Mothcair between 1998 and 2002. [4]

The aircraft was purchased by Des Porter, the accident pilot, who learned that parts used in the tail section of the aircraft had been sourced from another Dragon, also named Riama, which had been owned by his father but was damaged in a 1952 crash landing at Archerfield Airport near Brisbane. Porter himself had survived another accident in a Dragon at the age of 11 which killed his father and older brother in 1954.

The distinctive red biplane had become a popular attraction at airshows and flying events around Australia. [5] It was reported that on the weekend prior to the accident, Porter had raised some $15,000 for a Bundaberg based rescue helicopter service by offering joy-flights in Riama. [6]

Investigation

An investigation into the Riama crash was carried out by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), with the final findings released in December 2013. The preliminary findings showed that, contrary to some media reports that the aircraft ran out of fuel, at least one engine was operating at the time of the crash, and fuel was found in the tanks. The ATSB determined the time of impact to be approximately 14:21, 17 minutes after the last communication with the aircraft. The impact was determined to be not survivable. [1]

Final report

The final accident report by the ATSB was released on 19 December 2013. The ATSB stated that:

The pilot was not qualified and the aircraft not equipped for instrument flight. The weather on the coast and extending inland included low clouds and rain.

and

... the pilot radioed air traffic control (ATC) and requested navigation assistance, advising that the aircraft was in cloud.

They found that:

With no or limited visual references available in and near cloud, it would have been very difficult for the pilot to maintain control of the aircraft. After maintaining control in such conditions for about an hour, and being unable to navigate away from the mountain range, the pilot most likely became spatially disoriented and lost control of the aircraft before it impacted the ground." [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moorabbin Airport</span> Municipal airport serving Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Moorabbin Airport is a mostly general aviation airport for light aircraft located in between the southern Melbourne suburbs of Heatherton, Cheltenham, Dingley Village and Mentone. It also receives commercial airline service. The airport grounds are treated as their own suburb, and share the postcode 3194 with the neighboring suburb of Mentone. With a total of 274,082 aircraft movements, Moorabbin Airport was the second busiest airport in Australia for the calendar year 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trans Australia Airlines Flight 538</span> 1960 aviation accident

On 10 June 1960, a Fokker Friendship passenger aircraft operated by Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) was on approach at night to land at Mackay, Queensland, Australia when it crashed into the sea. All 29 people on board Trans Australia Airlines Flight 538 were killed.

de Havilland Dragon Type of aircraft

The de Havilland DH.84 Dragon is a successful small commercial aircraft that was designed and built by the de Havilland company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armavia Flight 967</span> 2006 plane crash in the Black Sea off Sochi, Russia

Armavia Flight 967 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Armavia from Zvartnots International Airport, Zvarnots in Armenia to Sochi, a Black Sea coastal resort city in Russia. On 3 May 2006, the aircraft operating the route, an Airbus A320-200, crashed into the sea while attempting a go-around following its first approach to Sochi airport; all 113 aboard were killed. The accident was the first major commercial airline crash in 2006. It was Armavia's first and only fatal crash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garuda Indonesia Flight 200</span> 2007 passenger plane crash in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Garuda Indonesia Flight 200(GA200/GIA 200) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight of a Boeing 737-400 operated by Garuda Indonesia between Jakarta and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The aircraft overran the runway, crashed into a rice field and burst into flames while landing at Adisucipto International Airport on 7 March 2007. Twenty passengers and one flight attendant were killed. Both the captain and first officer survived, and were fired shortly after the accident occurred. It was the fifth hull-loss of a Boeing 737 in Indonesia within less than six months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PMTair Flight 241</span> 2007 aviation accident

Progress Multi Trade Air Flight 241 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The flight was operated by regional airliner PMTair using an Antonov An-24. On 25 June 2007, the Antonov An-24, registered as XU-U4A, disappeared over the Cambodian jungle near Bokor Mountain in Kampot while on approach to Sihanoukville. A massive search and rescue operation ensued with thousands of soldiers and police scoured the area. The aircraft was found to have crashed in southwestern Cambodia, northeast of Dâmrei Mountains. All 22 people on board, most of whom were South Korean tourists, were killed. It remains as the second deadliest air disaster in Cambodian history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2000 Australia Beechcraft King Air crash</span> Aviation accident in Australia

On 4 September 2000, a chartered Beechcraft 200 Super King Air departed Perth for a flight to the mining town of Leonora, Western Australia. The aircraft crashed near Burketown, Queensland, Australia, resulting in the deaths of all eight occupants. During the flight, the aircraft climbed above its assigned altitude. When air traffic control (ATC) contacted the pilot, the pilot's speech had become significantly impaired, and he was unable to respond to instructions. Three aircraft intercepted the Beechcraft, but were unable to make radio contact. The aircraft continued flying on a straight north-easterly heading for five hours, before exhausting its fuel and crashing 40 mi (65 km) south-east of Burketown. The crash became known in the media as the "ghost flight".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qantas Flight 72</span> 2008 aircraft incident

Qantas Flight 72 (QF72) was a scheduled flight from Singapore Changi Airport to Perth Airport by an Airbus A330. On 7 October 2008, the flight made an emergency landing at Learmonth Airport near the town of Exmouth, Western Australia, following an inflight accident that included a pair of sudden, uncommanded pitch-down manoeuvres that caused severe injuries—including fractures, lacerations and spinal injuries—to several of the passengers and crew. At Learmonth, the plane was met by the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia and CareFlight. Fourteen people were airlifted to Perth for hospitalisation, with 39 others also attending hospital. In all, one crew member and 11 passengers suffered serious injuries, while eight crew and 99 passengers suffered minor injuries. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation found a fault with one of the aircraft's three air data inertial reference units (ADIRUs) and a previously unknown software design limitation of the Airbus A330's fly-by-wire flight control primary computer (FCPC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emirates Flight 407</span> 2009 aviation incident in Melbourne, Australia

Emirates Flight 407 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Emirates from Auckland to Dubai with a stopover in Melbourne, operated by an Airbus A340-500 aircraft. On 20 March 2009, the flight failed to take off properly at Melbourne Airport, hitting several structures at the end of the runway before climbing and then returning to the airport for a safe landing. Although no fatalities or injuries resulted, damage to the aircraft was severe enough for the event to be classified by Australian Transport Safety Bureau as an "accident". It was subsequently determined that a data-entry error resulted in insufficient engine thrust during take off. It has been described "as close as we have ever come to a major aviation catastrophe in Australia" by aviation officials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mimika Air Flight 514</span> 2009 aviation accident

Mimika Air Flight 514 was a chartered passenger flight operated by Mimika Air with a Pilatus PC-6 Porter from Ilaga, Papua to Mulia, a town nearby. On the morning of 17 April 2009, while en route to Mulia, the aircraft impacted Mount Gergaji, killing all eleven people on board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 9760D</span> 2009 aviation accident

Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 9760D was a domestic commercial passenger 50-minutes flight, flying from Sentani Airport in Papua's Province Jayapura to Oksibil Airport in Oksibil, Indonesia operated by a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300. On Sunday, August 2, 2009, while carrying fifteen people over Papua, the aircraft went missing en route. Its wreckage was found a few miles from Oksibil two days later. All 12 passengers and 3 crew members were killed in the accident.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airlines PNG Flight 4684</span> 2009 aviation accident

Airlines PNG Flight 4684 (CG4682/TOK4684) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Papua New Guinean airliner Airlines PNG, flying from Jacksons International Airport in Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby to Kokoda Airport in Oro Province, Papua New Guinea. On 11 August 2009, the aircraft operating the flight, a de Havilland Canada Twin Otter, crashed into a forest in Kokoda Valley, a popular trekking site in Papua New Guinea, while carrying 13 people in bad weather. A search and rescue operation was conducted by authorities and found the wreckage of the crashed plane on the next day, 12 August 2009. The aircraft was severely damaged, and searchers found no signs of life. Papua New Guinean Search and Rescue Agency then announced that everyone on board was killed instantly in the crash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Pel-Air Westwind ditching</span>

The 2009 Pel-Air Westwind ditching or Norfolk Island ditching was an aircraft accident on 18 November 2009 near Norfolk Island, Australia. A Westwind II jet operated by Pel-Air was conducting an air ambulance flight for CareFlight International when it was forced to ditch after being unable to land in bad weather and not having sufficient fuel to divert to an alternate destination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 South Africa Piaggio Albatross crash</span> Aviation accident

On 14 August 2011, a pair of privately-owned Piaggio P.166 Albatross aircraft crashed into the Wolkberg mountains in the Limpopo province of South Africa, killing all 13 people on board both planes. The aircraft had departed minutes earlier from Tzaneen, and were flying in formation towards Johannesburg when they struck the mountain in cloud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ansett-ANA Flight 325</span> 1961 aviation accident

On the evening of 30 November 1961, Ansett-ANA Flight 325, a service from Sydney to Canberra, Australia, operated by a Vickers Viscount 720, broke up in mid-air and crashed shortly after takeoff, when it encountered a severe thunderstorm. All 15 people on board were killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nusantara Buana Air Flight 823</span> 2011 aviation accident

Nusantara Buana Air Flight 823 was a non-scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by a CASA C-212 Aviocar from Medan to Kutacane, Indonesia, that on 29 September 2011 crashed in the jungle, killing all eighteen people on board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caboolture Airfield</span> Airport in Queensland, Australia

Caboolture Airfield is an aerodrome catering to general aviation and ultralight aircraft located in Caboolture, Queensland, Australia, approximately 55 km (34 mi) north of the state capital Brisbane, adjacent to the Bruce Highway. The airfield is maintained and operated by the Caboolture Aero Club Incorporated and shares a large training area with nearby Caloundra Airport and Redcliffe Airport. The airfield is a popular site for the restoration of historic aircraft and a number of associated businesses are located onsite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whyalla Airlines Flight 904</span> 2000 aviation accident

Whyalla Airlines Flight 904 was a scheduled commuter flight, operated by a Piper PA-31 Navajo which crashed while attempting to ditch in the Spencer Gulf, South Australia after suffering failures of both engines on the evening of 31 May 2000. All 8 people on board the aircraft were killed as a result of the accident. The findings of a subsequent investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau highlighting the airline's operating procedures as a key factor leading to the accident were later overturned after they were contradicted by evidence presented at a coronial inquiry into the deaths of those on board the flight. The safety implications arising from the accident were subject to a recall by engine manufacturer Textron Lycoming which saw close to 1000 aircraft grounded worldwide while defects were rectified at an estimated cost of $A66 million. Australia's aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority also mandated lifejackets be carried on all aircraft operating over water after the crash.

The Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) is an Australian government agency which was established on 30 March 2014 to coordinate search and recovery operations for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared on 8 March 2014 and was soon thereafter determined to have ended in the Southern Indian Ocean, within Australia's concurrent aeronautical and maritime search and rescue regions. The JACC is an agency within Australia's Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, headed by Judith Zielke. It does not perform any search, recovery, or investigation activities, but coordinates the search effort and serves as a primary point of contact for information about the search for media and families of Flight 370 passengers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tara Air Flight 193</span> 2016 passenger plane crash in Dana, Nepal

Tara Air Flight 193 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Pokhara to Jomsom, Nepal. On 24 February 2016, eight minutes after take-off, the aircraft serving the flight, a Viking Air DHC-6-400 Twin Otter went missing with 23 people on board. Hours later, the wreckage was found near the village of Dana, Myagdi District. There were no survivors. It was Tara Air's deadliest accident.

References

  1. 1 2 "ATSB Transport Safety Report - Aviation Occurrence Investigation AO-2012-130 Preliminary" (PDF). Australian Transport Safety Bureau. 8 November 2012.
  2. Hall, Peter (2 October 2012). "Up to 15 helicopters search for missing DH84 Dragon plane between Kingaroy and Maleny". The Courier Mail.
  3. Hall, Peter (3 October 2012). "No survivors in crash of missing vintage plane found near Lake Borumba, west of Imbil". The Courier Mail.
  4. "Missing Dragon bi-plane not equipped with instruments to negotiate cloudy weather". Herald Sun. 3 October 2012.
  5. Ross, Shelley (9 October 2012). "Des and His Dragon". Australian Flying.
  6. Clifford, Kate (2 October 2012). "Des raised thousands for chopper". Sunshine Coast Daily.
  7. "Investigation: AO-2012-130 - Collision with terrain involving de Havilland DH-84 Dragon, VH-UXG, 36 km SW of Gympie, Queensland on 1 October 2012". Atsb.gov.au. 19 December 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2014.