Civil Aviation Safety Authority v Alligator Airways Pty Limited (No 3) [2012] FCA 601 (8 June 2012)
28 April 2012 – Emergency landing aircraft VH-WOV
The last of the recent incidents relied on by CASA occurred on 28 April 2012 when the single engine Gippsland Aeronautics GA8TC Airvan registered VH-WOV carrying six fare paying passengers suffered a failure of its turbo charger. The failure was noticed by the pilot prior to take-off from Kununurra Airport but he still attempted takeoff. While the aircraft was able to become airborne it could not climb above 30 feet, and then suffered a further loss of power so that its height was about 5 to 10 feet. The pilot attempted to slowly return to the airport rather than landing in adjacent paddocks. It was difficult to do so because the aircraft could not easily be banked without risking a wing touching the ground. The pilot was eventually able to land the aircraft on the rough ground beside one of the taxi-ways at the airport.
Video footage of the flight taken by a passenger was admitted into evidence. It provided a chilling insight into the unfolding of this incident. The video showed that when finally about to land one wing of the aircraft came within about 2 feet of striking the ground.
Again, Alligator did not deny this concerning event. It did not attempt to argue that taking off in this aircraft was not a serious risk to air safety. Mr Street’s evidence was also that the pilot’s decision to attempt to return to the airfield rather than attempting an emergency landing straight ahead in the adjacent paddocks, involved an incredible risk.
Last edited by baron_beeza; 10th Jun 2012 at 12:17.