ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 680
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| Date: | Saturday 30 October 1999 |
| Time: | 12:56 LT |
| Type: |  Piper PA-28-181 |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | VH-BAC |
| MSN: | 2890209 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 9 km WNW of Oberon, NSW -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Merimbula, NSW (MIM/YMER) |
| Bathurst, NSW (BTH/YBTH) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
On 30 October 1999, the pilot with two passengers was conducting a private flight in a Piper Archer from Merimbula to Bathurst, to be carried out in accordance with the visual flight rules (VFR). The intended route was coastal to Wollongong and then direct to Bathurst. The latter part of the route passed over the Oberon area where the elevation of terrain was between 3,300 and 5,000 ft.
At approximately 12:30 witnesses south of Oberon reported seeing an aircraft flying very low and at times circling. They reported that it occasionally entered patches of low cloud and disappeared from view behind higher terrain. Some of the witnesses reported the engine sounded as if it was revving and cutting. Witnesses in the area to the south and west of Oberon subsequently reported several similar sightings of the aircraft at about that time. At 12:56 witnesses on a property 9 Km west-north-west of Oberon reported hearing an aircraft overhead. They could not see the aircraft because of fog and mist but heard it circle their house twice.
The engine noise increased followed by the distinct sound of an impact. They subsequently found the wreckage of an aircraft approximately 250 metres west of the house. The occupants of the aircraft were fatally injured.
The aircraft had collided with grass-covered sloping terrain at an elevation of 3,300 ft. Examination of the accident site and wreckage determined the aircraft had been descending in a left wing low attitude under high power and at high speed. No defect that may have contributed to the accident was found in either the aircraft or its systems.
ATSB Conclusions:
1. Weather conditions deteriorated more rapidly and more severely than was initially forecast in the weather reports obtained by the pilot.
2. The pilot was unaware of amended weather information that accurately forecast the deterioration in weather conditions.
3. The pilot continued flight into non-visual meteorological conditions
Sources:
1. http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/1999/aair/aair199905121.aspx
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberon,_New_South_Wales
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 21-Jan-2008 10:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 11-Apr-2014 02:14 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 05-Mar-2018 18:48 | BEAVERSPOTTER | Updated [Cn] |
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