Incident Summary
On a charter flight from Lady Barron, Flinders Island to Bridport, Tasmania, a pilot with six passengers departed at approximately 1700 Australian Eastern Daylight-saving Time. The aircraft entered instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) shortly after departure while climbing to a planned cruising altitude of about 1,500 ft. The pilot did not hold a command instrument rating, and the aircraft was not equipped for flight in IMC.
Sequence of Events
The pilot attempted to turn the aircraft back to Lady Barron Aerodrome but became disoriented and steered towards high ground in the Strzelecki National Park in the south-east of Flinders Island. At about 1715, the aircraft exited the cloud layer very close to the ground. The pilot turned left into a small valley where he could neither turn the aircraft nor out-climb the surrounding terrain. He elected to slow the aircraft to its stalling speed for a forced landing. Moments later, the aircraft impacted the tree tops and then the ground.
Rescue and Injuries
After the impact, the first passenger to exit used the aircraft's fire extinguisher to put out a small fire that had started beneath the engine. The other passengers and the pilot then exited the aircraft safely. One passenger sustained minor injuries during the impact; the pilot and the other passengers were uninjured. During the night, all occupants were rescued by helicopter and transported to the hospital in Whitemark, Flinders Island.
Probable Cause (Official Findings)
The investigation identified the following contributing safety factors:
- The weather was marginal for flight under visual flight rules, with broken cloud forecast down to 500 ft above mean sea level in the area.
- The pilot, who did not hold a command instrument rating, entered instrument meteorological conditions because he was adhering to an unwritten operator rule not to fly below 1,000 ft above ground level.
- The pilot became lost in cloud and flew the aircraft towards the Mt Strzelecki Range, exiting the cloud in very close proximity to the terrain.
- The aircraft exited the cloud in a small valley, within which the pilot could neither turn round nor out-climb the terrain.
Other key findings noted that the aircraft exited cloud before impacting terrain with sufficient time for a forced landing, and that the design of the aircraft's seats and three-point automotive-type restraint harnesses with inertia reel shoulder straps contributed to the passengers' survival with minimal injury.