On 6 February 2023, a

Boeing 737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...

owned by Coulson Aviation and used as an

air tanker Aerial firefighting, also known as waterbombing, is the use of aircraft and other aerial resources to combat wildfires. The types of aircraft used include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Smokejumpers and rappellers are also classified a ...

crashed in the

Fitzgerald River National Park Fitzgerald River National Park is a national park in the Shire of Ravensthorpe, Shires of Ravensthorpe and the Shire of Jerramungup in Western Australia, southeast of Perth. The park is recognised on National Heritage List (Australia), Austral ...

in the Great Southern Region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

while fighting multiple fires. The two crew members aboard—both pilots—survived with minor injuries and were taken to the hospital. The aircraft was destroyed, and resulted in the first

hull loss A hull loss is an aviation accident that damages the aircraft beyond economic repair, resulting in a total loss. The term also applies to situations where the aircraft is missing, the search for its wreckage is terminated, or the wreckage is ...

of a Boeing 737 in Australia.

Aircraft and crew

The aircraft involved in the accident was a 27-year-old Boeing 737-300, with serial number 28035 and registered as N619SW. The aircraft was the 2762nd 737 built, and was delivered new to

Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., or simply Southwest, is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States that formerly operated on a low-cost carrier model. It is headquartered in the Love Field, Dallas, Love Field neighborhood ...

in November 1995. It was retired by Southwest in August 2017 and transferred to Coulson Aviation later that month. After a period of storage and conversion, it began operating as an air tanker in July 2022. The captain was a male who had been working for Coulson Aviation since 2016, and had 8,233 flight hours, of which, 1,399 were on the 737, and 5,500 were in aerial firefighting. The co-pilot was also a male who had been working for Coulson Aviation since 18 April 2022, with 5,852 flight hours, which 128 of which were on the 737. He had spent about 500 flight hours in aerial firefighting.

Accident timeline

On 6 February 2023, at 12:08 pm, the aircraft involved took off from the

Busselton Margaret River Airport Busselton Margaret River Airport , formerly known as Busselton Regional Airport, is located in the Busselton suburb of Yalyalup, from the town centre. Busselton is a major regional centre in the South West of Western Australia, south of Perth ...

on the first of three missions that day to respond to a fire near Hopetoun. En route to the fires, the aircraft climbed to , before descending to around over the fire zone once. It returned to the same airport at 1:26 pm. After taking on a new retardant load, it took off at 1:50 pm for the second mission. The aircraft climbed out of the area and returned to its base at 3:08 pm, after descending once over the fire zone. N619SW Aftermath view

On its third mission, it took off at 3:32 pm. This time the air tanker descended two times over the fire zone, crashing at 4:14 pm while executing the second descent in the Fitzgerald River National Park.The aircraft had descended to 57 ft, at a speed of 110 kts, and were commencing the drop. The aircraft, running at about 30% power from the engines, began to climb and did so to 81 ft. At 107 kts, the captain increased power, however, the engines were slow to respond, and the stick shaker activated. The aircraft then stalled and collided with foliage, bounced, became airborne again, then crashed. After the aircraft had fully stopped moving, the co-pilot then started on the evacuation checklist, while the captain struggled to find an escape, as the cockpit door had buckled, and was unusable, and the right-side window unable to be opened by the co-pilot. The captain then noticed that there was a fire on the aircraft and both crew members subsequently escaped through the left-side window. Both crew members survived with minor injuries and were rescued by helicopter.

Investigation

Following the accident, the

Australian Transport Safety Bureau The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is Australia's national transport safety investigator. The ATSB is the federal government body responsible for investigating transport-related accidents and incidents within Australia. It covers ai ...

announced that a team was being assembled from

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

and

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

to investigate the accident. A report of the preliminary investigation released on 3 May 2023 stated that the aircraft had hit a ridge line while dropping retardant at a low altitude. Seconds earlier, the pilots had attempted to pitch the aircraft up, but its engines had not had sufficient time to accelerate. After the aircraft had slid to a rest, the pilots had been able to escape through the left side cockpit window only sustaining minor injuries. On 6 November 2024, the final report was released, which determined that the accident was a

controlled flight into terrain In aviation, a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT; usually ) is an aviation accidents and incidents, accident in which an airworthy aircraft, fully under pilot control, is unintentionally flown into the ground, a body of water or other obstac ...

due to insufficient airspeed and thrust. The ATSB issued 11 recommendations, which are as follows: # Raising the minimum drop height. # Re-calibration of airspeed during partial load drops. # Pre-drop planning and familiarization # Monitoring pilot situational awareness # Better pilot training exercises # Better training on how to exit the flight path if something goes wrong. # Improved communication and coordination with "Birddog". # Adherence to

standard operating procedures A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an organization to help workers carry out routine operations. SOPs aim to achieve efficiency, quality output, and uniformity of performance, while reducing misc ...

. # Better crew resource management (CRM). # Monitoring and considering human factors. # Continuous training and proficiency accessments.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coulson Aviation crash, 2023 2023 disasters in Australia 2020s in Western Australia February 2023 in Australia Aviation accidents and incidents in 2023 Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 737 Classic Aviation accidents and incidents in Western Australia Accidents and incidents involving cargo aircraft

Aircraft and crew

Accident timeline

Investigation

See also

Notes

References