What happened
On the night of 9 April 2008, a Fairchild Industries Inc. SA227-AC (Metro III), operating under the registration VH-OZA, departed from Sydney Airport, New South Wales. The aircraft was conducting a cargo charter flight destined for Brisbane, Queensland, with a single pilot at the controls.
During the flight, air traffic controllers issued instructions for the aircraft to execute a left turn toward an easterly heading. However, radar tracking indicated that the aircraft instead performed a right turn, deviating from the assigned path. The pilot communicated that the aircraft was experiencing a minor technical issue, but no further radio contact was established.
Subsequent radar monitoring tracked a series of erratic maneuvers, including alternating left and right turns, as well as fluctuations in altitude. The final radar contact recorded the aircraft at an altitude of 3,740 feet above mean sea level, noting a rapid descent rate exceeding 10,000 feet per minute. Shortly after this observation, the aircraft disappeared from radar.
Following the loss of contact, search operations were launched by air traffic control and maritime authorities. Small fragments of debris were found floating in the ocean, south of the final radar position. The aircraft was destroyed, and the pilot was presumed to have sustained fatal injuries.
Findings
Investigators recovered both flight recorders from the seabed; however, the devices only contained data from preceding flights and lacked information regarding the final flight. While wreckage was located, there was no evidence to suggest the aircraft suffered a midair structural failure.