Staff reporter

VH-RSB hit the ground and caught fire after flying into a power line near Merriton on 8 October, killing both the pilot and the single passenger on board and injuring rescuers. In its final report, the ATSB said the power line was in the way of aircraft landing on the property’s grass runway.

Col. Brian T. Mulvihill, the commanding officer of Marine Rotational Force – Darwin (MRF-D) 24.3, said he backed the tilt-rotor aircraft, which was grounded for three months after being involved in two fatal incidents last year.

According to ATSB director of transport safety Dr Stuart Godley, while both pilots had made the required mandatory calls on the local common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF), the Cherokee’s pilot had mistakenly called Mildura’s runway 36 “runway 35”.

The multi-million-dollar investment includes refurbishments to the RAAF Base Tindal Fire Station, a community building, and security alarm upgrades.

The Agusta A109, VH-RUA, was landing on bulk carrier Tai Keystone on 6 December 2023 when the pilot heard a “shredding noise” and an increase in engine pitch before conducting an emergency shutdown. In its final report, the ATSB said the tail rotor hit a handrail unseen by the pilot.

In its final report into the incident on 24 October 2022, the transport safety watchdog said the crew of VH-VEQ, which was operating a scheduled flight from Canberra, was given “erroneous on-slope indications, without any failure indication” as it approached runway 34L on a cloudy night.