Incident Overview
Date: Tuesday 26 January 1960
Aircraft Type: de Havilland DH-114 Heron 2D
Owner/operator: Transportes Areos de Timor
Registration Number: CR-TAI
Location: NW off Bathurst Island, NT –
ÿ Australia
Phase of Flight: En route
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 9
Component Affected: AircraftAircraft
Category: Accident
A Heron aircraft crashed into the sea near Bathurst Island after a 1-hour 20-minute flight from Darwin to Baucau. The last radio contact was with a DH-104 Dove aircraft flying to Darwin. Investigation revealed the pilot was flying in poor visibility conditions and potentially due to psychological factors contributed to the accident.A Heron aircraft crashed into the sea near Bathurst Island after a 1-hour 20-minute flight from Darwin to Baucau. The last radio contact was with a DH-104 Dove aircraft flying to Darwin. Investigation revealed the pilot was flying in poor visibility conditions and potentially due to psychological factors contributed to the accident.
Description
The Heron took off from Darwin at 11:33 for a 1hour and 20 minutes-flight to Baucau. At 12:10 there was radio contact with a company DH-104 Dove (CR-TAG) flying from Baucau to Darwin. This was the last contact with the flight before it crashed into the sea, NW of Bathurst Island. PROBABLE CAUSE: “It was concluded that the most likely chief cause of the accident lay in the fact that the pilot was flying the aircraft in bad visibility conditions for which he was not duly qualified, and it was presumed that reasons of a psychological nature accounted for the accident.”
Primary Cause
Pilot-in-command flying in poor visibility conditions, potentially due to psychological factors.Pilot-in-command flying in poor visibility conditions, potentially due to psychological factors.Share on:
