What happened
On the night of 25 January, a chartered flight was scheduled to travel from Perth to Port Hedland. The pilot reached the aircraft at 22:10 hours to perform a brief inspection before visiting the CAA flight planning office for meteorological and air traffic control briefings. During this briefing, the crew was informed of a tropical cyclone located off the northwest coast of Australia and its possible impact on the flight path.
Following the submission of the flight plan, the pilot returned to the aircraft at 23:15 hours to complete a preflight check of the load and the airframe. The aircraft departed from Perth at 23:39 hours. The flight proceeded through several waypoints, passing over Ballidu at 00:03 hours, Mt Singleton at 00:20 hours, and Mt Magnet at 00:40 hours. During the flight, the aircraft climbed through various altitudes, reaching FL170, FL190, and eventually FL210.
At approximately 01:02 hours, while positioned over Meekatharra, a passenger provided a position report. Shortly thereafter, the pilot transmitted a distress message stating the aircraft was descending and out of control. A final transmission 30 seconds later indicated that the aircraft was trapped in ice and spinning through 8,000 feet. No further contact was established, and the crash resulted in two fatalities.