Flight Preparation
A charter flight from Perth, Western Australia, to Port Hedland was planned for the night of 25 January. The pilot arrived at the aircraft at 2210 hours and conducted a brief inspection before proceeding to the CAA flight planning office for an air traffic control and meteorological briefing. The briefing included information about a tropical cyclone off the northwest coast of Australia and its potential effects on the proposed route. After filing a flight plan, the pilot returned to the aircraft at 2315 hours as loading was being completed, and performed a preflight inspection of the aircraft and its load.
Flight and Accident Sequence
The aircraft departed Perth at 2339 hours and climbed toward Ballidu, the first waypoint, which it passed at 0003 hours. It subsequently passed over Mount Singleton at 0020, Mount Magnet at 0040, and Meekatharra at 0102 hours. During the flight, the aircraft climbed from FL170 to FL190 after Ballidu, and further to FL210 after Mount Magnet. While over Meekatharra, the passenger, who also held a pilot license, gave the position report. One minute later, the pilot radioed that the aircraft was out of control and descending. Thirty seconds after that, he advised that the aircraft was in ice and spinning down through 8,000 feet. No further communications were received. Both occupants were killed.
Probable Cause Findings
The official investigation reported the following findings:
- The pilot did not have recent experience in high-performance, high-altitude aircraft except for 51.7 hours gained in the MU-2.
- The pilot did not possess some of the experience levels and recency requirements placed on MU-2 pilots immediately after the accident by the CAA.
- The pilot did not take sufficient account of the operational characteristics of this aircraft type.
- The pilot's situational awareness was probably impaired due to a combination of pre-existing cumulative fatigue and insufficient sleep in the previous 42 hours.
- The meteorological conditions were conducive to the formation of airframe icing on an aircraft flying in cloud along the flight planned route.
- It is probable that control was lost as the aircraft banked left over Meekatharra to change track toward Port Hedland.
- The pilot reported that the aircraft was in ice during his last radio transmission.
- The pilot was unable to recover from the spin before the aircraft hit the ground.