ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 33579
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| Date: | Friday 15 March 1974 |
| Time: | 12:05 LT |
| Type: |  Aero Commander 100 |
| Owner/operator: | The Pilot Makers E.F.T.S. Pty. Ltd. |
| Registration: | VH-BFA |
| MSN: | 265 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Moorooduc, near Melbourne, VIC -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Illegal Flight |
| Departure airport: | Moorooduc, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Investigating agency: | BASI |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Destroyed 15 March 1974 during unauthorised flight by student pilot, who lost control after takeoff from Moorooduc, Victoria.
The pilot commenced flying training with the operator on 2 February, 1974 and all of his training had been carried out in Auster type aircraft. His first and only solo flight was made on 11 March. He had also flown as a passenger in VH-BFA on two occasions.
A further training flight had been arranged for 1030 hours on the day of the accident but, prior to this time, the pilot cancelled the arrangement by telephone. Nevertheless, at about 1100 hours he arrived at the flight office of the operator at Moorooduc and, some time later, he was, observed walking towards the line of parked aircraft.
At about 1200 hours the instructor in charge, who was then in the flight office some 1500 metres from the parked aircraft heard an aircraft engine start and he established that the aircraft concerned was VH-BFA. As he had not authorised any person to fly VH-BFA, the instructor drove his car to intercept the aircraft which had by then commenced taxying towards the airstrip.
The car arrived at the southern end of the airstrip as the aircraft commenced to take off towards the north. After a short ground roll, the aircraft became airborne and climbed steeply to a height of about 150 feet. It then commenced a steep climbing turn to the left and, after turning through some 90 degrees, the nose dropped and the aircraft dived to the ground and overturned after impact.
Shortly after impact a fierce fire broke out and extended to the surrounding scrub. The pilot was killed; he was later named as Murray Malcolm LOOKER, aged 27.
It was subsequently established that the pilot was suffering from a mental illness for which he had been receiving treatment since 1972. On 4 February 1974 he was medically examined in connection with his application for a student pilot licence. He did not disclose his mental illness to the medical examiner and he was assessed as meeting the appropriate medical standards and issued with a licence. Because of his undisclosed illness he did not meet the medical standards required for the issue of any pilot licence
NTSB Conclusion: The cause of the accident was that the pilot attempted to make an unauthorised flight which was beyond his level of experience and ability
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/1974/aair/aair197403113.aspx
2. http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/24767/197403113.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Sep-2008 01:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 11-Apr-2014 18:36 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 11-Apr-2014 18:43 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 11-Apr-2014 18:44 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 02-May-2020 09:20 | A.J.Scholten | Updated [Cn] |
| 10-Jun-2022 02:53 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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