TWINOTTERARCHIVE master index

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msn 706
DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 300
P2-KSI
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706

Series 300

Later 320

F-ODGB • YJ-RV1/1 • P2-RDV • VH-FNZ • VH-HPY

P2-KSI

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

• F-ODGB de Havilland Canada Inc., Downsview, ON. Rolled out date Aug-1980. First flight 18-Aug-1980.

• F-ODGB Delivered to Air Melanesie, Vanuatu. 22-Aug-1980.

• YJ-RV1/1Re regd Air Melanesie, Vanuatu. 01-Apr-1981.

• P2-RDV Sold to Talair, Goroka, PNG., Dec-1989.

Accident; Reported to have suffered two take-off/landing accidents whilst with Talair. Withdrawn from use & stored at Goroka 25-May-1993; ferried to Mareeba, QLD 09-Jul-1993.

• VH-FNZ Sold to Flight West Airlines, Eagle Farm, QLD., 05-May-1995.

• VH-HPY Leased to Hawker Pacific, (Banque Nationale de Paris), Yagoona, NSW., 19-Dec-1996.

• VH-HPY Sub leased to Australian Army, 1st Aviation Regiment, Oakley, QLD., 02-Mar-1997. Canx 07-Aug-2002.

Accident: 9Km SW of Simbai, Bismarck Range, PNG. 09 November 1997, The crew were operating a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft in Exercise Highland Pursuit 2/97. The purpose of the exercise, which was conducted by No. 173 Surveillance Squadron, 1st Aviation Regiment, Australian Army, was to provide tropical mountainous flying training in Papua New Guinea. There were three trainees and one training pilot on board the aircraft. On the third day of flying operations in Papua New Guinea, the crew were conducting a flight from Madang and return via a number of airstrips in the central highlands. When haze and cloud prevented them flying the flight-planned direct track between the Koinambe and Simbai airstrips, they decided to fly north-west via the Jimi River valley and one of its tributaries. Two of the trainees were occupying the cockpit seats, one as flying pilot and the other as navigating pilot using a 1:1,000,000-scale chart. When the crew turned the aircraft to follow a tributary off the Jimi River, the training pilot was in the aircraft cabin. A few minutes later, their discussion regarding the progress of the flight attracted the attention of the training pilot. By this time, however, the position of the aircraft in the valley, and its available performance, were such that an escape from the valley was not possible. The aircraft collided with trees before impacting steeply sloping ground. It was subsequently established that when the crew turned from the Jimi River, they entered the wrong valley. Calculations based on the manufacturer's performance data showed that the aircraft did not have sufficient performance to outclimb the increase in terrain elevation from the Jimi River valley to cross the Bismarck Ranges via this valley. There was a low level of experience and corporate knowledge within the Army regarding the operations of fixed-wing aircraft such as the Twin Otter in tropical mountainous areas.

Note: The wreckage was reportedly recovered to Oakley, QLD for parts recovery, with the fuselage subsequently going to Richmond, QLD. It was subsequently rebuilt and sold to HeavyLift.

• P2-KSI HeavyLift, Waigani, PNG. Regd 27-Jun-2009.

• Current •

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P2-RDV at Brisbane, Queensland.
Photo: Unknown photographer © May 1955 - Erik Johannesson Collection
VH-HPY demonstrating STOL, near Darwin.
Photo: Lenn Bayliss © 1997 - Aird Archives
P2-KSI of Hevilift at Cairns - YBCS, Queensland.
Photo: FNQSKIES © 11 August 2013