Outlook AHSA Newsletter February 2024 – Aviation Historical Society of Australia

2003 Cessna 172M VH-TUR crashed at Wedderburn, NSW on 22 June 2003. The aircraft drifted to the right shortly after take off from runway 35 at Wedderburn airfield in NSW and impacted the ground to the north-east of the airfield. The aircraft was destroyed and the four occupants were fatally injured. Examination of a video taken of the take-off revealed that the aircraft became airborne after a take-off roll of about 500 m, with 10 degrees of wing flap extended. As it climbed, the aircraft drifted to the right, and entered a right-wing-low sideslip with a nose-up attitude. The aircraft was observed flying slowly during its climb after takeoff. If the aircraft's airspeed became sufficiently slow in a steady climb, the aircraft would stall. The circumstances were consistent with the aircraft entering a stall and a spin at a height from which it was considered impossible to recover. Sources: ATSB; aviation-safety.net website

2009 A Qantas A330-300 Airbus flight bound for Perth from Hong Kong plunged suddenly, injuring seven people of the 219 aboard. It occurred apparently because the plane did not detect ice clouds that caused turbulence. Source: ‘No one to blame in Qantas Airbus plunge, report says’, Canberra Times, 1 July 2010, p. 10. via aph.gov.au website