Final report - accident at Croydon, Sept 2013

[outnabout]

Investigation: AO-2013-151 - Collision with terrain involving Cessna 206, VH-WAV, 156 km SSE of Croydon, Qld on 15 September 2013


Amongst the findings:
"The distance available from where the pilot increased power for take-off was much shorter than the distance advised in the aircraft’s pilot operating handbook under the prevailing conditions.


There was no apparent reason for the pilot to attempt a take-off from that location when a more suitable location was nearby "


"the ATSB found that the pilot’s seat had broken from its mounts, probably as the result of heavy, unsecured cargo striking it during the accident sequence. This could have had a detrimental effect on the survivability of the accident. "


In the section relating to pilot's medical:


"Based on the available information, it was not possible to determine whether the pilot’s judgement of the available distance, or his decision-making capability, was affected by medical conditions and/or prescribed medications. However, the pilot’s medical condition and medications did have the potential to affect the safety of flight in general, and were only reported to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) after the pilot’s medical certificate needed renewal. In addition, the evidence indicates that the pilot continued to fly without a current and valid medical certificate. "


In the section relating to aircraft maintenance:


"The most recent record of flight hours was dated 7 September 2013 and showed 7,006.3 airframe hours, or 101.7 hours since the last inspection. It was reported that the pilot carried out some minor maintenance, such as oil changes, between inspections.


Examination of the maintenance records showed that the aircraft accumulated more than the allowed 100 flight hours between periodic inspections on six occasions between 2009 and 2012, with 164.0 hours between inspections on one occasion."


Two people died as a result.

so long as some pilots continue to bend (or ignore) the rules, then we will always have CASA looking for ways to monitor, regulate & restrict GA.