In the drink

CASA, ATSB credibility takes on water in wake of Westwind ditching report

Late at night on November 18 2009, an air ambulance flight from Apia, Samoa approached Norfolk Island amidst a ferocious storm. With visibility almost nil and fuel running low, the six-passenger Westwind VH-NGA circled the island as the crew desperately searched for the runway. Finally, unable to see the runway after a fourth approach, and with fuel all but gone, they pointed the aircraft at the safest place that could be seen – the ocean.

Almost miraculously – or “somewhat fortuitously,” as the ATSB would later put it laconically – all six people aboard survived the ditching and were later rescued from the sea. The pilot-in-command, Dominic James, was hailed as a hero for bringing the aircraft down without loss of life. It was a made-for-reality-TV moment, and in true reality TV style, it quickly turned ugly.