The Australian Transport Safety Bureau today published its final investigation report into the fatal collision of a Pawnee glider tug and a Jabiru J430 at Caboolture QLD in July 2023.
Pawnee VH-SPA and J430 VH-EDJ collided over Caboolture when the Pawnee pilot elected to go-around on runway 06 whilst the J430 took-off from the intersecting runway 11. The Pawnee pilot managed to land safely despite damage, but the Jabiru crashed beside the runway. The two occupants were fatally injured.
According to investigators, the pilot of the Pawnee executed the go-around because a student pilot taxied a Cessna across runway 06, unaware the runway was in use for glider operations. At the same time, the J430 pilot commenced a take-off roll on runway 11, presumably also not aware of the Pawnee, most likely because it was not transmitting or receiving radio calls, and trees obscured the two runway thresholds.
The Jabiru pilot commenced a low-level left turn probably in an attempt to avoid the Pawnee, but the Pawnee pilot was never aware of the J430 until after the collision.
“While in the circuit, the Pawnee pilot had made positional radio calls, and a call stating their intention to land and hold short of the runway intersection, but did not hear an entering runway or rolling call from the Jabiru,” said ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell.
“Based on the Jabiru pilot's apparent unawareness of the Pawnee until just before the collision, and most witnesses not recalling hearing any calls from the Jabiru throughout the event, it is likely that the Jabiru pilot could not transmit or hear radio calls.
“Because of this, and a stand of trees between the intersecting runways that blocked visibility between them, neither pilot was aware of the other aircraft.”
ATSB investigators interviewed the Cessna pilot, a 60-hour student, who stated that as aircraft ahead had all used runway 11, they did not consider 06 to be active, and having turned down the radio volume to concentrate on run-ups and vital actions, did not hear the positional calls from the Pawnee nominating 06.
Caboolture Aero Club, which operates the airport, has since banned simultaneous runway operations, issued a warning about trees obscuring the two threshold from each other, and mandated rolling calls.
The ATSB stated that CASA guidance material on using non-controlled airports was unclear and did not provide practical advice to pilots using a secondary runway. In some situations, the guidance contradicted existing regulations.
Following the ATSB investigation, CASA is removing all references to the term "active runway" to better align guidance with the regulations and avoid confusion.
The full investigation report is on the CASA website.