Accident Wittman W-10 Tailwind VH-TWQ, Sunday 12 January 2020
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Date:Sunday 12 January 2020
Time:14:53
Type:Silhouette image of generic TAIL model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Wittman W-10 Tailwind
Owner/operator:Private
Registration: VH-TWQ
MSN: 05-1305
Fatalities:Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:0
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Category:Accident
Location:Tooloom National Park, NSW -   Australia
Phase: En route
Nature:Private
Departure airport:Casino Airport, NSW (CSI/YCAS)
Destination airport:Boonah Airport, QLD (YBOA)
Investigating agency: ATSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
The pilot of an amateur-built Wittman Tailwind aircraft, registered VH-TWQ, departed Evans Head Airport, Australia, with one passenger on board. The pilot was conducting a private flight under the visual flight rules from Evans Head, New South Wales to Boonah, Queensland.
The pilot flew in a north-north-westerly direction towards Boonah via the Richmond River valley. At 13:53, the pilot commenced a 180° turn overhead the township of Kyogle and diverted south back down the valley to Casino aerodrome, landing at 14:06.
At 14:54, the pilot took off from Casino and flew in a west-north-westerly direction. At 15:11, TWQ commenced a left turn and, shortly afterwards, collided with terrain. The pilot and passenger were fatally injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

Contributing factors
• The pilot departed an interim landing site for Boonah under the visual flight rules with a high risk of encountering forecast cloud that reduced conditions below that required for visual flight.
• It is likely the pilot encountered conditions of reduced visual cues and became spatially disorientated which led to a loss of control and collision with terrain.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: ATSB
Report number: AO-2020-004
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year 1 month
Download report: Final report

Sources:

https://7news.com.au/travel/plane-crashes/crash-site-of-missing-light-aircraft-located-in-koreelah-national-park-near-casino-c-645194
https://www.google.com/amp/s/10daily.com.au/amp/news/australia/a200113hcozt/plane-wreckage-found-in-search-for-missing-men-20200113
https://www.miragenews.com/two-men-confirmed-dead-in-plane-crash-north-west-of-casino/
https://www.casa.gov.au/aircraft-register-advanced?search_api_views_fulltext=&vh=TWQ&field_ar_serial=&field_ar_manu=&field_ar_model=&field_ar_yearmanu_op=%3D&field_ar_yearmanu%5Bdate%5D=&field_ar_date_first_reg_op=%3D&field_ar_date_first_reg%5Bdate%5D=
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2020/aair/ao-2020-004/
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2020/aair/ao-2020-004/
https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/3/0/4/5440403.jpg?v=v46d9b7bbd10 (photo)

Images:


Photo: ATSB

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
12-Jan-2020 17:17 gerard57 Added
12-Jan-2020 17:34 gerard57 Updated [Time, ]
12-Jan-2020 17:44 harro Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, ]
13-Jan-2020 04:04 Geno Updated [Source, Narrative, ]
13-Jan-2020 06:21 gerard57 Updated [Aircraft type, Total fatalities, Location, Source, Damage, Narrative, ]
13-Jan-2020 06:49 gerard57 Updated [Aircraft type, ]
13-Jan-2020 07:23 RobertMB Updated [Registration, Cn, Source, Narrative, ]
13-Jan-2020 09:46 Sherlock Updated [Registration, ]
13-Jan-2020 10:34 RobertMB Updated [Cn, Source, Narrative, ]
13-Jan-2020 10:43 RobertMB Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative, ]
11-Mar-2020 07:19 harro Updated [Source, Narrative, Photo, ]
02-Mar-2021 12:51 harro Updated [Source, Narrative, Accident report, ]

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