The pilot, the sole occupant of the Cessna 210 aircraft, was
conducting a charter positioning flight from Groote Eylandt to
Numbulwar. Witnesses reported that shortly after the aircraft took
off from runway 10, it diverged to the right of the runway heading.
The aircraft was reported to maintain level flight, at about 20 ft
above ground level, and track towards the operator's ticketing
office where a company pilot occupied the office, with the door
closed, at the time. As the aircraft passed over the office it
banked left and adopted a nose-high attitude. The witnesses then
saw the aircraft hit a palm tree next to the office, and one saw an
object fall from the aircraft. They then saw the aircraft lose
altitude and disappear behind buildings. Shortly afterwards, the
aircraft was observed on the ground, sliding towards the runway
where it came to rest and an intense fire broke out. Although the
pilot was able to exit the aircraft unaided, he later died from
injuries sustained during the accident. The aircraft was destroyed
by impact forces and post-impact fire.
The ticketing office was a converted shipping container situated
next to a steel and corrugated iron shelter used as a passenger
waiting area. There was a 6.6 m high very high frequency (VHF)
aerial attached to the north side of the shelter and two large palm
trees immediately south of the office. The office was approximately
150 m south of the runway centreline, 1130 m from the threshold of
runway 10 and adjacent to the south-east corner of the sealed
aircraft parking area. There was a light pole 5.2 m northeast of
the VHF aerial.
The investigation established that the aircraft's left wingtip
struck one of the floodlights on the light pole 5.2 m above the
ground, detaching the floodlight, the wingtip and the aircraft's
strobe light power unit attached to the outer wing rib. The left
horizontal stabiliser struck the VHF aerial 5.6 m above the ground.
The outer third of the left horizontal stabiliser and the left
elevator were detached from the aircraft. A number of palm fronds
were also detached from the two palm trees. The relative position
of the impact marks indicated that the aircraft was in a left bank
and nose-up pitch attitude at the time it struck the floodlight and
aerial.
The damaged extremities of the left wing contacted the ground
approximately 155 m from the light tower, leaving a shallow ground
scar for 21 m before the propeller struck the ground. The aircraft
continued to travel across the ground for a further 80 m before
coming to rest, upright, within the runway flight strip immediately
adjacent to the sealed runway surface. The landing gear and flaps
were retracted and all flight control cables were intact and
attached. The left wing and cockpit area were destroyed by fire.
Ground contact marks and damage to the propeller were consistent
with the engine delivering substantial power at impact.
The aircraft had been out of service for 2 months prior to the
accident, due to difficulty in obtaining parts to complete a
periodic maintenance inspection. The maintenance organisation
completed the inspection on 22 March 2002. Although the current
maintenance release had been damaged by the fire, there was no
indication on the recovered parts of the maintenance release that
any defects had been recorded on it. The accident pilot had flown
the aircraft from Darwin to Groote Eylandt, via Gove, on the
morning of the day before the accident. Another company pilot flew
the aircraft on the afternoon of the day before the accident and
again on the morning of the accident. The aircraft had completed
5.1 hours time in service since the periodic inspection and neither
pilot had reported any aircraft defect that may have contributed to
the accident.
The operator had three bases, with the chief pilot and check and
training pilot both located at the head office in Darwin. Pilots
new to the company were initially based at Groote Eylandt. At the
time of the accident, there were three pilots and a base manager on
the island. One pilot normally based on Groote Eylandt held the
position of senior base pilot and had oversight of operational
issues. On the morning of the accident, the senior base pilot had
travelled from Groote Eylandt to Darwin. The base manager had
oversight of administrative and maintenance issues on the island.
The pilot had started flying for the operator on 4 January 2002 and
after conducting 2 flights from Darwin, began operating from Groote
Eylandt on 8 January 2002.
A check of the pilot's personnel files from his present and
previous employers did not reveal any record of him being formally
counselled regarding any aspect of his flying. Company personnel
described the pilot as reliable and professional in all areas of
his duties. Company personnel on the island reported that the pilot
apparently slept normally on the night prior to the accident flight
and did not exhibit any uncharacteristic behaviour on the day of
the accident. Post-mortem and toxicological examination did not
identify any factor which may have impaired the pilot's ability to
operate the aircraft safely.
At the time of the accident, the automatic weather station at
the airport recorded the wind as 9 kts, gusting to 15 kts, from 100
degrees magnetic. Witnesses reported that the weather was generally
fine with scattered cloud.
The investigation was unable to establish why the aircraft
diverged from the runway heading immediately after take-off.