ATSB Final Rport into Potential Fuel Exhaustion of Air Whitsundays Beaver VH-AWI - And Another Investigation into Near Miss with Fellow Beaver VH-AWD

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has released its final report into a potential fuel exhaustion event involving Air Whitsunday's De Havilland DHC-2 Mk1 Beaver Float Plane VH-AWI near Shute Harbour on Saturday 2 August.

File photo

According to the report:  "The pilot of VH-AWI calculated the fuel required for two return charter flights from Shute Harbour to Whitehaven Beach, as specified on the company schedule for that day.  The pilot planned to fly one group of passengers to Whitehaven Beach, return solo to Shute Harbour, and take a second group of passengers to Whitehaven Beach. The pilot would then wait at Whitehaven beach before returning to Shute Harbour with the first group of passengers. The pilot would then return solo to Whitehaven Beach, collect the second group of passengers and return to Shute Harbour. 

"During the planning, the pilot had omitted to include the solo ferry flights in the fuel calculations.

"During the final flight to Whitehaven Beach, the pilot realised that he had planned for two return flights and omitted to allow additional fuel for the two empty sectors. He expected to land back at Shute Harbour with about 7 minutes of fuel remaining and elected to collect the passengers from Whitehaven Beach and return to Shute Harbour as planned.

"The pilot landed the aircraft close to the passenger pick-up point to reduce taxi time, collected the passengers for the flight and conducted a short taxi and take-off for the estimated 12 minute flight. The aircraft landed at Shute Harbour and the pilot and passengers disembarked. About 6L of fuel was in the tank when the aircraft landed, significantly less than the required 50L reserve. 

ATSB recommends that, "This incident highlights the importance of establishing a known fuel status regularly and the impact distractions can have at critical times including during flight planning".

Meanwhile, as mentioned below, another incident involving an Air Whitsunday De Havilland Beaver is being investigated by the ATSB with a near collision involving  Beaver VH-AWD and GSL Aviation Gippsland Aeronautics GA-8 Airvan VH-NOQ, 16km NNE of Hamilton Island Airport on Friday 31 October.

During a scenic flight, the pilot of VH-AWD observed the Airvan passing close on a reciprocal track.