Commercial Aircraft Sales

Pilot Error Blamed For F-111 Crash

The fatal crash of an Raaf F-111 in September last year during a routine low-level night simulated attack on the meat works at Guyra (near Armidale) Nsw, has been found by an enquiry to most likely be the result of pilot error. The report notes that the pilot had not performed the sortie in question for five months before the accident and has called for a review of “the adequacy and effectiveness of operational instrument flying training and currency”. It would be interesting to quantify the effects of reduced flying hours — due to budget cuts — on this and other accidents and incidents.

The investigation says the pilot’s failure to disengage the automatic pilot (through the terrain following radar) at the appropriate time might have distracted and confused him: “Confusion over the unexpected behaviour of the aircraft may have caused him to focus on what was going wrong to the detriment of situational awareness and the primary task of controlling the aircraft safely”. Perhaps worth considering is the question of whether or not currency could have been attained by the use of a modern simulator, rather than sending the pilot and his navigator out to perform the real thing after a gap of five months.

This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.

Login

Become a Member

To continue reading the rest of this article, please login.

Username or Email

Password Forgot password?

Keep me signed in on this device.

If you check this box before you log in, you won’t have to log back into the website next time you return, even if you close your browser and come back later.

If you check the box above before you log in, you won’t have to log back into the website next time you return, even if you close your browser and come back later.

---

or

---

Login with a Passkey

To unlock all Australian Aviation magazine content and again unlimited access to our daily news and features, become a member today!
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.

PRINT

$49.95 for 1 year Become a Member

See benefits

• Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
• Access to In Focus reports every month on our website

MOST POPULAR

PRINT + DIGITAL

$99.95 for 1 year Become a Member

$179.95 for 2 years Become a Member

See benefits

• Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
• Access to the Australian Aviation app
• Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
• Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
• Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
• Daily news updates via our email bulletin

DIGITAL

$5.99 Monthly Become a Member

$59.95 Annual Become a Member

See benefits

• Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
• Access to the Australian Aviation app
• Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
• Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
• Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
• Daily news updates via our email bulletin

View more offers and details