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In a newly-released study, the national transport safety watchdog examined 79 balloon occurrences reported to it between 2024 and 2022, and found that ballooning “carried a higher risk to fare paying passengers” than flights in other aircraft, with landing the riskiest phase.
The Cirrus SR22, VH-MSF, had four people on board when it stalled shortly after take-off from Canberra on 6 October 2023 before entering a spin and hitting the ground near Gundaroo, where its remains were consumed by fire. All occupants, including the pilot and three passengers, were killed.
The single-engine Cessna 150M, VH-WWU, was flying from Geraldton to Shark Bay in Western Australia on 21 March when it entered a spiral dive and hit the ground near Ogilvie. The pilot, who died in the accident, had been “acutely unwell” and was likely still symptomatic, the ATSB said.
Sixteen-year-old Byron Waller landed at Brisbane Airport at 12:46pm on Wednesday, having flown 41,700km in his Sling TSi VH-ZMD over 67 days following his departure on 9 August. He was accompanied by three different flight instructors over the course of the journey.
Team ZIC, who placed fifth in 2018 and second in 2022, recorded multiple near-perfect legs, finishing in the top two on six of the nine segments. Racers Scott Palmer and Adam Dean defeated 36 other teams in the precision time-trial, where scoring depended on timing and positional accuracy.
According to official figures cited by the researchers, light aircraft account for over 90 per cent of aviation-related fatalities. More than half the studies reviewed found human factors, including pilot error, poor decision-making, and reduced situational awareness.
