TWINOTTERARCHIVE master index

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msn 117
DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 200
PZ-TSD
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117

Series 100 Later Series 200

N7252 • VH-TGV • P2-TGV • P2-RDD • RP-C-1219 • P2-RDD • P2-ALT • VH-JEA

PZ-TSD

• Registration • Activity and details of Owner/Operator and other historical information

• N7252 de Havilland Canada Inc., Downsview, ON. Rolled out 28-Mar-1968. First flight 03-May-1968.

• N7252 Accepted by TAA - Trans Australia Airlines, at Downsview, 23-May 1968.

• N7252 Air Capital International, Augusta, KS. Regd 23-May-1968.

Ferried to Australia by Air Capital Intl, Augusta, KS. Arrived at Brisbane on completion of delivery flight 15-Jun-1968.

• VH-TGV TAA - Trans Australia Airlines, Mebourne, VIC. Regd 15-Jun-1968. Named "Ludwig Leichardt". Canx 08-Jul-1974.

Withdrawn from use and stored at Brisbane, QLD 01-Jan-1974.

• VH-TGV Sold to Territory Airlines, Goroka, PNG. 09-May-1974. Regd 08-May-1974.

• P2-TGV Re. Regd to Territory Airlines, Goroka, PNG. Regd 08-Jul-1974.

• P2-TGV Name change to Talair, Goroka, PNG in Dec-1974.

• P2-RDD Re-regd to Talair "City of Lae”. Regd 11-Mar-1976.

• RP-C-1219 Leased to Aerolift Phillipines, Manila, PI. Regd 27-Nov-1986.

• P2-RDD Returned to Talair, Goroka, PNG. Regd Sep-1991.

Withdrawn from use by Talair (stored Goroka PNG; later at Mareeba QLD), 25-May-1993.

• P2-RDD Sold to Airlink, Rabaul, PNG. Regd 07-Oct-1993.

Delivered from Cairns to Rabaul 07-Oct-1993.

• P2-ALT Airlink, Rabaul, PNG. Regd 07-Oct-1993.

• P2-ALT Sold to Eastland Air, Toowoomba West, QLD. Regd 14-Oct-1998.

Remained in PNG until arriving on delivery in late Jan 1999.

• VH-JEA Regd to R. R. Moore and Company.

• VH-JEA Leased to Eastland Air, Toowoomba West, QLD as the registered operator... Regd 02-Feb 1999.

Note: Seen in service Toowoomba – Brisbane 11-Jun-1999.

• VH-JEA Sold to Wimray Aviation, Darwin NT. Regd Jul-2000. Remained operated by Eastland Air on lease.

• VH-JEA Returned to Wimray Aviation, Darwin, NT. Regd Jul-2002.

Total time: 33,072 hours.

Withdrawn from use at Cairns, QLD and subsequently at Toowoomba, QLD.

Offered for sale by auction Sep-2003.

• VH-JEA Esanda Finance Pty., Ltd., Brisbane, QLD. Regd 26-Nov-2003.

• VH-JEA Sold to Sydney Skydivers, Bankstown, NSW. Regd 30-Aug-2004. Canx 07-Nov-2007.

Accident: Wilton NSW. 21 January 2005 at about 08:30 Eastern Daylight-saving Time, a de Havilland Canada DHC6-200 Twin Otter aircraft, registered VH-JEA, was engaged in commercial skydiving operations at Wilton, NSW, with one pilot and 12 parachutists on board.

The pilot reported that while approaching the drop zone at flight level (FL) 140, he heard a loud noise and noticed the nose locker door detach from the front left side of the aircraft. The door passed in front of the right windscreen before contacting the right propeller. Windows on the right side of the aircraft cabin were broken by debris. The parachutists exited the aircraft and the pilot diverted to Bankstown Airport.

Although the engine indications appeared normal, the pilot suspected that the right engine had developed a vibration. He broadcast a PAN 1 and shut down the engine as a precaution. Following the activation of local standby services at Bankstown, a single engine approach and landing was completed. There were no injuries.

An engineering examination found that damage to the aircraft was consistent with the pilot’s report. One of the two latches from the nose locker door was found inside the cabin. Damage to fibreglass material attached to the latch was consistent with the door having been torn by aerodynamic forces. The remainder of the nose locker door was not recovered. Examination of the latch and fibreglass material found no indication of a pre-existing defect.

On previous occasions the pilot had experienced some difficulty securing the door as it did not sit flush with the fuselage when in the locked position. He stated that because of this, he was careful about checking the aircraft nose locker door and believed, but could not be certain, that he had checked its security immediately prior to the flight.

During the flight, the main cabin door/locker door warning was continuously illuminated on the aircraft caution annunciator panel. The pilot disregarded the warning as it had been illuminated during previous flights when all doors and lockers had been closed and locked.

To facilitate parachute dropping operations, the main cabin door had been modified and replaced with a roller shutter door installation. The installation engineering order had been prepared by an organisation which held a Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) instrument of approval under Civil Aviation Regulations (CAR) 1988 Regulation 35 (2). The instrument enabled the organisation to approve design modifications or repairs.  The engineering order stated:

This roller shutter door modification itself does not require a Flight Manual Supplement. There must however be present in the Flight Manual a section or Supplement approving door off/open operations.

The engineering order did not contain detail as to how the door warning system should be modified following the roller door installation. The installation was undertaken in accordance with the engineering order, with the result that the associated cabin door/locker door warning annunciator was continuously illuminated.

The Flight Manual section or supplement PSM 1-62-1A, approving main door open or main door off operations, could not be located.

The aircraft operations in support of skydiving activities, although an essential element of the commercial enterprise, were conducted as private operations. Consequently, the operator was not required to maintain any flight operations or flight standards manuals beyond that provided in the Twin Otter Aircraft Flight Manual. It was required to comply with the procedures and requirements of the Australian Parachute Federation and CASA as specified in a Deed of Agreement between the two organisations.

• VH-JEA Sold to Blue Wing Airlines, Paramaribo, Surinam. Oct-2007.

Delivered Sydney-Bankstown on delivery 28-Sep-2007 and noted at Opa Locka, FL 19-Oct-2007.

• PZ-TSD Blue Wing Airlines, Paramaribo, Surinam. Delivered and regd Jul-2008.

• Current •

N7252 on pre-delivery photo shoot for DHC.
Photo: de Havilland Canada © May 1968 - Michael J. Ody Collection
N7252 stopping at San Francisco on delivery flight.
Photo: Unknown photographer © Unknown date - Erik Johannesson Collection
VH-TGV at Adelaide - YPAD, S.A.
Photo: Bob Wiseman © October 1969 - Lance Higgerson Collection - Aird Archives
P2-RDD with Talair."City of Lae".
Photo: Unknown photographer © January 1982 - Erik Johannesson Collection
P2-ALT of AIRLINK, at Hoskins - HKN, Papua New Guinea.
Photo: Paul Howard ©1997 - Erik Johannesson Collection
VH-JEA operating with Eastland Air at Toowoomba, Queensland.
Photo: Lenn Bayliss © June 1999 - Erik Johannesson Collection
VH-JEA of Blue Wing, doing engine runs at Bankstown - YSBK, NSW.
Photo: Stewart Kedar © 11 September 2007 - Aird Archives
PZ-TSD at Paramaribo - SMJP, Surinam.
Photo: Andrew J. Müller © 16 April 2010 - Aird Archives