What happened
On the day of the accident, the VH-NYG, a Piper Chieftain, was operating a scheduled charter flight under Instrument Flight Rules. After a successful leg from Brisbane to Moree, where all four passengers disembarked, the pilot departed Moree for Tamworth. During the descent from 10,000 feet, the pilot contacted the Tamworth Control Zone controller to request a runway change to runway 18, citing a fuel flow issue with the left engine. Although the pilot initially denied the existence of emergency conditions, the aircraft began a left-hand orbit at approximately 300 feet above ground level near the threshold of runway 18.
During this maneuver, the aircraft was flying with a bank angle of roughly 60 degrees. As the pilot completed nearly a full circle, the aircraft entered a high rate of descent and transitioned into a steep nose-down attitude. The aircraft impacted a grassy field approximately 350 meters before the runway 18 threshold. Following the impact, the airframe remained largely intact and slid for 53 meters before stopping. The 1 fatality was the pilot, who was the only person on board at the time of the crash.
Findings
During the execution of a steep turn, the aircraft developed a pronounced nose-down attitude and an excessive rate of descent, leading to the impact with the ground.