The ATSB has finished investigating a fatal helicopter crash at a cattle station near Kowanyama on 9 October last year. Image: Queensland Globe/Queensland Police/ATSB.
A Cape York beef cattle operation – one of the biggest in the country – has made changes to procedures after a helicopter pilot fatally crashed while flying at night during a bushfire without proper qualifications, according to the national transport safety investigator.
It comes as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has been investigating or has recently wrapped up probes into a string of separate peninsula and Torres Strait helicopter safety incidents between October last year and March this year.
The ATSB’s latest report examines the cattle station crash involving a Robinson R22 Beta II on the evening of 9 October last year, which claimed the life of a 27-year-old man.
The chopper was being used to guide ground vehicles fighting a bushfire on a Rutland Plains station owned by MDH Pty Ltd about 25 km south to south-east of Kowanyama.
It was at about 7:20 pm when the pilot told colleagues on the ground he was going to return to the station because it was getting too dark.
The station’s helipad was lit up for the chopper’s arrival, but it never arrived.
The helicopter was helping to fight a bushfire when the pilot lost contact. Image: ATSB.
Tragically, the wreckage of the helicopter and the fatally injured pilot were discovered the next morning.
The ATSB determined the helicopter’s last recorded movement was at 7:29 pm – which was 37 minutes after last light and 12 minutes after nautical twilight.
It was later found the pilot was not qualified to fly at night and the helicopter was not properly equipped for such flights.
The ATSB discovered it had been “normal for MDH helicopter pilots to exceed the limits of last light”.
“An ATSB analysis of historical flight tracking data showed 39 occasions in the previous six months where MDH pilots flew beyond the legal minimums into night,” the bureau said in a statement.
ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said: “Instead of observing the legal limits, pilots chose their own limits, despite none of the company’s R22 pilots being qualified for night flight, and none of its R22 helicopters being equipped for night flight.
“Flying after last light was a tolerated and unmanaged risk,” he said.
“Flying after last light without appropriate equipment and qualifications is unsafe.
An image from the public ATSB report showing a helicopter used on the Cape property. The example photo has been digitally altered by the bureau. Photo: Supplied.
“The acceptance and normalisation of flying after last light is leading pilots to fatal accidents.”
Mr Mitchell said the crash was the fourth similar fatal accident in Australia during the past five years.
MDH now requires pilots to determine the official time of last light. Station managers and pilots must make sure choppers are grounded before dark.
Mr Mitchell said requiring pilots to operate helicopters during the day and planning to land 10 minutes before last light gave pilots reliable and sufficient external visual references.
“Pilots and the companies or landowners they work for or contract to must work together to avoid flight at night by unqualified, unequipped pilots,” he said.
“Development of risk management practices in any organisation should be an ongoing activity. It should develop an ability across all parties to document operational risks and codify learnings from operations.”
Pre-flight planning by MDH pilots now includes considering fatigue, including rest and duty times, as well as specific risk assessment criteria.
Since the crash, MDH has put in place a mentoring scheme to assist and supervise pilots involved in aerial mustering operations.
In recent days, the ATSB released its final report into the ditching of a Robinson R44 operated by GBR Helicopters during a flight from Thursday Island (Waiben) to Coconut Island (Poruma) on 8 October last year – a day before the fatal crash near Kowanyama.
The ATSB has also been investigating why a Bell LongRanger chopper operated by Fortescue Helicopters lost control at about 91m in the air a short time after taking off from Thursday Island on 6 January this year, with dodgy fuel flagged as a possible cause.
The ATSB was also considering whether to investigate after a helicopter “rolled” over during takeoff at Weipa Airport on 27 March.
