Safety in the vicinity of non-towered aerodromes - Australian ...

• During the descent into Karratha, the crew of the Sikorsky S76 took avoiding
action when they observed a Eurocopter Super Puma climbing towards them. The
helicopters were 200 m laterally and 100 ft vertically apart. The crew of the Super
Puma was operating on the incorrect frequency.
7.2 Consequential events
In the 70 occurrences where consequential events were known, there were 59 missed
approaches and go-arounds, and 11 rejected takeoffs. These types of precautionary
avoiding action were generally taken when another aircraft was sighted on the runway
strip during final approach, when another aircraft was observed during final approach
to be on final approach to the reciprocal runway, or when two aircraft came into close
proximity on base leg or final. In addition to these occurrences (where the
consequential event was due to a precautionary act), there were eight 31 other
occurrences in which a collision occurred (four collisions on ground, four mid-air
collisions).
More than half of the occurrences where a consequential event was recorded (n = 58)
involved at least one passenger transport aircraft; however, only one of the eight
collisions involved passenger transport aircraft (both conducting charter operations).
In total, occurrences involving passenger transport aircraft led to 48 missed
approaches and go-arounds, nine rejected takeoffs, and one collision.
31 Seven of these occurrences were the seven accidents and serious incidents involving damage and/or
injury discussed in section7.1. The additional occurrence was an incident which involved a collision
on ground between two taxiing de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth aircraft at Heck Field (ALA), Qld.
This collision did not involve any injuries and resulted in only minor damage to both aicraft, and
hence is coded as an incident.
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