What happened
During an air display at Mountain Straight, a pilot attempted a landing on the racetrack that involved a plan to land uphill and depart downhill. This maneuver was intended to avoid obstacles located at the southern end of the track. However, the pilot's approach was impacted by a tailwind component. As the aircraft moved into the narrower upper section of the track, the pilot was unable to reduce groundspeed sufficiently to manage the reversal turn, causing the tailplane to strike a concrete barrier.
Following the impact, which was witnessed and reported by a media helicopter crew, the pilot did not perform an external inspection of the aircraft. Instead, the pilot proceeded to fly over a spectator area while the aircraft was still damaged.
The investigation
Investigators found that the pilot's flight plan for the landing and takeoff lacked necessary details regarding approach and departure paths. The proposed maneuver breached required spectator safety distances specified in AC 91-21. Furthermore, the pilot's application did not include weather limits for the landing, suggesting that the decision to land with a tailwind was a result of inadequate planning.
While a display coordinator had been nominated to oversee safety and had the authority to halt the display, this individual was not present at the event and was unaware of their nomination. Consequently, there was no authority figure available to challenge the pilot's planning or intervene after the collision was reported over the radio.
Additionally, the investigation noted that the CASA inspector approved the application despite the lack of detailed information regarding how the pilot would avoid NO FLY AREAs. The inspector also failed to identify that the pilot's plan would breach safety distances, a failure that could have been prevented by reviewing the track topography or the pilot's history of non-compliance with safety distance requirements in previous applications.