Australian Transport Safety Bureau issues report into Old Bar Ferris Wheel accident

The Australian Transportation Safety Bureau has released a report into the crash of a Cheetah Sierra 200 light aircraft into a Ferris Wheel on the NSW north coast in October 2011.

The report says the pilot of the Sierra was attempting to land at Old Bar near Taree when the plane struck and became lodged in the Ferris Wheel operating at the Old Bar Beach Festival.

The pilot and one passenger were on board the aircraft, and there were four occupants on the ferris wheel, none of whom were seriously injured.

The report found that the management of risk in relation to flight training operations by Recreational Aviation Australia Incorporated (RA-Aus) was adequate, but it “had been circumvented in a number of areas during the training of the pilot. That resulted in a pilot operating in the aviation environment who did not possess the required competencies to exercise the privileges of a private pilot certificate.”

The report also found that “the approach to the management of risk by the Old Bar Beach Festival Committee, specifically relating to aviation operations at the Beach Festival, was ineffective and resulted in a level of risk that had the potential to impact on the objectives of the festival.”

To avoid any other aircraft crashing into funfairs, RA-Aus has taken steps to ensure that the flight training facility that undertook the pilot’s training and its staff are aware of the requirements imposed upon them by the RA-Aus Operations Manual, the ATSB noted, “and that RA-Aus staff at the facility have the required skills and knowledge to carry out flight training operations.

Moreover, “the Festival and Airstrip Committees reported that in future the airstrip will be closed and aviation operations suspended when the festival is taking place.”

Click here to read the full ATSB report.

1st October 2011 - PLANE CRASHES INTO OLD BAR FERRIS WHEEL