Accident de Havilland DH-84 Dragon VH-UXG,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 149355
 
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Date:Monday 1 October 2012
Time:14:05
Type:de Havilland DH-84 Dragon
Owner/operator:Desmond R Porter
Registration: VH-UXG
MSN: 6077
Year of manufacture:1934
Fatalities:Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Category:Accident
Location:near Borumba Dam, 36 km S of Gympie, QLD -   Australia
Phase: En route
Nature:Private
Departure airport:Monto Airport, QLD (MNQ/YMTO)
Destination airport:Caboolture Airport (YCAB)
Investigating agency: ATSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
At about 11:07 Eastern Standard Time on 01OCT2012, a de Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd DH-84 Dragon, registered VH-UXG (UXG), took off from Monto on a private flight to Caboolture, Queensland under the visual flight rules (VFR). On board the aircraft were the pilot/owner and five passengers. The weather conditions on departure were reported to include a light south-easterly wind with a high overcast and good visibility.

Sometime after about 12:30, the aircraft was seen near Tansey, about 150 km north-west of Caboolture on the direct track from Monto to Caboolture. The aircraft was reported flying in a south-easterly direction at the time, at an estimated height of 3,000 ft and in fine but overcast conditions. At 13:15, the pilot contacted Brisbane Radar air traffic control (ATC) and advised that the aircraft’s position was about 37 NM (69 km) north of Caboolture and requested navigation assistance. At 13:18, the pilot advised ATC that the aircraft was in ‘full cloud’. For most of the remainder of the flight, the pilot and ATC exchanged communications, at times relayed through a commercial flight and a rescue flight in the area due to the limited ATC radio coverage in the area at low altitude.

At about 13:20, a friend of one of the aircraft’s passengers received a telephone call from the passenger to say that she was in an aircraft and that they were ‘lost in a cloud’ and kept losing altitude. Witnesses in the Borumba Dam, Imbil and Kandanga areas 70 to 80 km north-north-west of Caboolture later reported that they heard and briefly saw the aircraft flying in and out of low cloud between about 13:15 and 14:15. At 13:48, the pilot advised ATC that the aircraft had about an hour’s endurance remaining. The pilot’s last recorded transmission was at 14:04.

A search for the aircraft was coordinated by Australian Search and Rescue (AusSAR). The aircraft wreckage was located on 3 October 2012, about 87 km north-west of Caboolture on the northern side of a steep, densely wooded ridge about 500 m above mean sea level. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) later determined that the aircraft probably impacted terrain at about 14:21 on 1 October 2012. Preliminary analysis indicated that the aircraft collided with trees and terrain at a moderate to high speed, with a left angle of bank. The aircraft’s direction of travel at impact was toward the south-south-west.

Probable Cause:
"From the evidence available, the following findings are made with respect to the visual flight rules into instrument meteorological conditions accident involving de Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd DH-84 Dragon, registered VH-UXG, that occurred 36 km south-west of Gympie, Queensland, on 1 October 2012. These findings should not be read as apportioning blame or liability to any particular organisation or individual. Safety issues, or system problems, are highlighted in bold to emphasize their importance. A safety issue is an event or condition that increases safety risk and (a) can reasonably be regarded as having the potential to adversely affect the safety of future operations, and (b) is a characteristic of an organisation or a system, rather than a characteristic of a specific individual, or characteristic of an operating environment at a specific point in time.
Contributing factors:
- The pilot unintentionally entered instrument meteorological conditions and was unable to reattain and maintain visual conditions.
- It is likely that the pilot became spatially disoriented and lost control due to a combination of factors such as the absence of a visible horizon, cumulative workload, stress and/or distraction.
Other factors that increased risk:
- Though it probably did not have a significant bearing on the event, the aircraft was almost certainly above its maximum take-off weight (MTOW) on take-off, and around the MTOW at the time of the accident.
- Though airborne search and rescue service providers were regularly tasked to provide assistance to pilots in distress, there was limited specific guidance on the conduct of such assistance. Other findings:
- The aircraft wreckage was not located for 2 days as the search was hindered by difficult local weather conditions and terrain, and the cessation of the aircraft’s emergency beacon due to impact damage."

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: ATSB
Report number: AO-2012-130
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:

1. http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2012/aair/ao-2012-130.aspx
2. http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/plane-missing--with-six-on-board-20121001-26v7z.html
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Queensland_DH.84_Dragon_crash
4. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/no-survivors-in-vintage-plane-crash-20121003-26y34.html
5. http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9107110260
6. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/wreckage-of-des-porters-vintage-bi-plane-spotted-on-ridge-near-in-thick-cloud-on-afternoon-it-went-missing/story-fncvk70o-1226486865551
7. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/missing-dragon-bi-plane-not-equipped-with-instruments-to-negotiate-cloudy-weather/story-fndo45r1-1226486873125
8. http://www.australianflying.com.au/news/des-and-his-dragon
9. https://www.baaa-acro.com/aircraft/de-havilland-dh84-dragon
10. https://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/dh84-pt1/dh84-dragon-pt1.htm
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borumba_Dam

History of this aircraft

Other occurrences involving this aircraft
19 April 1954 VH-UXG Private 0 near Archerfield Airport (ACF/YBAF), Archerfield, Brisbane, QLD w/o

Images:


Photo(c): ATSB

Media:

DH84 Dragon

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
01-Oct-2012 03:34 gerard57 Added
01-Oct-2012 03:39 gerard57 Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Source]
01-Oct-2012 04:22 Dmitriy Updated [Aircraft type, Cn]
02-Oct-2012 23:29 harro Updated [Other fatalities, Source, Damage, Narrative]
03-Oct-2012 06:28 gerard57 Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
19-Dec-2013 21:07 harro Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
09-May-2014 00:49 Dr. John Smith Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
08-Apr-2016 12:53 Kardz Updated [Operator]
06-Mar-2022 18:53 Captain Adam Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Photo]
30-Oct-2022 15:49 Dr. John Smith Updated [Operator, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category]
28-May-2023 04:25 Ron Averes Updated [[Operator, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category]]

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