Incident Overview
On the evening of 11 February 2021, the pilot of a Robinson R22 Beta II helicopter, registered VH-HKC, was conducting a private flight near his property, approximately 110 km north-northwest of Hughenden, Queensland. During the flight, weather conditions deteriorated in the direction of his return to the homestead. While avoiding weather, the pilot landed at an adjacent property to refuel and obtain directions. He then continued flying away from his homestead, arriving at another station about 24 minutes later. After refueling, and 5 minutes prior to last light in dark night conditions, the pilot departed in a northerly direction. When the helicopter became overdue and unable to be contacted, a search commenced. The following morning, the pilot was found fatally injured and the helicopter destroyed adjacent to an unsealed road 36 km from the Reedy Springs station.
ATSB Findings
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) found that the pilot did not hold a night visual flight rules (VFR) rating, instrument rating, or have night flying experience. Despite this, he continued flying towards his destination in a remote area after last light. The ATSB determined that the planning, operational, and navigational decisions made by the pilot before and during the flight did not adequately address the risk of visual flight into dark night conditions. Notably, the pilot had several opportunities to discontinue the flight before last light when he refueled at other stations. Instead, he continued flying through civil twilight into astronomical twilight, and then, in dark night conditions without local ground lighting, inadvertently allowed the VFR-only equipped helicopter to descend into terrain.
Sequence of Events
The pilot likely navigated at low-level over a sealed road in poor light conditions, which likely resulted in the helicopter contacting a powerline. The failure of the powerline caused a loss of ground lighting in the direction of flight. Shortly after turning onto an unsealed road in overcast, moonless conditions, the helicopter departed the road after a bend and flew over open grassland before colliding with trees and terrain in a left bank, nose-down attitude.
Contributing Factors
The ATSB noted that the pilot's family advised he avoided flying at night and predominantly flew only over his own property. CASA flight crew licensing information confirmed that the pilot did not hold a night VFR or instrument rating. The helicopter was not certified for instrument flight rules (IFR) or night VFR operations and lacked suitable instruments. Within 5 minutes of departure from Wongalee Station, the pilot was flying at night with no illumination from the moon or stars, minimal terrestrial lighting, and overcast weather. The collision with the powerline occurred 29 minutes after last light, and the terrain collision about 35 minutes after last light.
Pilot's Decision Making
The ATSB found that the pilot did not assess that weather conditions near Reedy Springs and Cargoon were unsuitable for a VFR-only helicopter. His decision to depart Reedy Springs during a clearing in the weather was made in a hurry without an alternate plan. He subsequently became lost and close to fuel exhaustion. At both Camden Park and Wongalee stations, the pilot did not consider suggestions to discontinue the flight. Despite arriving at Wongalee Station within 15 minutes before last light, he elected to continue, likely navigating at low-level using a sealed highway. Even after colliding with a powerline, he continued flying into dark conditions without ground lighting. The ATSB noted that the pilot had opportunities to land safely and use a satellite phone or personal locator beacon to obtain assistance.