Rossair was an

air charter Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flight ...

company based in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, Australia. In November 2013, it merged with Air South, another

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

n based charter company. In July 2018, the company was placed into

voluntary administration As a legal concept, administration is a procedure under the insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions, similar to bankruptcy in the United States. It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry on ...

History

Rossair was established in 1963. It was Australia's second oldest continually operating air transport company, the oldest being

Qantas Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...

. On 1 June 2017 the company ceased operations after one of its aircraft on a training flight crashed in

Renmark, South Australia Renmark is a town in South Australia's rural Riverland area, and is located northeast of Adelaide, on the banks of the River Murray. The Sturt Highway between Adelaide and Sydney runs through the town; Renmark is the last major town encountered ...

. All three on board, including the company's chief pilot and a

Civil Aviation Safety Authority The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is an Australian statutory authority responsible for the regulation and safety oversight of Australia's civil aviation. CASA was formed on 6 July 1995 under the ''Civil Aviation Act 1988'' when the Civil ...

inspector, were killed. Following this incident the company continued non-flying operations until July 2018 when it was placed into

with EY appointed as the administrator.

Fleet

As of November 2013 the Rossair fleet consisted of: *3

Cessna 441 Conquest II The Cessna 441 Conquest II is the first turboprop powered aircraft designed by Cessna and was meant to fill the gap between their jets and piston-engined aircraft. It was developed in November 1974, with the first aircraft delivered in Septemb ...

Beechcraft 1900D The Beechcraft 1900 is a U.S made twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With customers favoring ...

Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger regional airliner, commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as ...

Incidents and accidents

* On 25 January 1972, a Rossair Beechcraft V35A (registered VH-TYA) collided with a radio mast guy wire and subsequently crashed at Compressor Station 13 of the Moomba Natural Gas Pipeline, 65 miles south-east of

Leigh Creek, South Australia Leigh Creek is a former coal-mining town in eastern central South Australia. At the 2016 census, Leigh Creek had a population of 245, a 55% decrease from 550 in the previous census in 2011. Situated to the west of the northern Flinders Ranges ...

. All four of the aircraft's occupants were killed. * On 1 February 1976, a Rossair

Cessna 172 The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company.Piper PA-28 Cherokee The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of two-seat or four-seat light aircraft built by Piper Aircraft and designed for flight training, air taxi and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 62–64. Werner & Werner Corp, ...

on final approach to

Parafield Airport Parafield Airport is a public training airport, located on the edge of the residential suburb of Parafield, South Australia. It is north of the Adelaide central business district and adjacent to the Mawson Lakes campus of the University of So ...

. All four people on board the Rossair Cessna 172 and the sole occupant of the Piper PA-28 Cherokee were killed. * On 27 March 1976, a Rossair

Cessna 180 The Cessna 180 Skywagon is a four- or six-seat, fixed conventional gear general aviation airplane which was produced between 1953 and 1981. Though the design is no longer in production, many of these aircraft are still in use as personal airc ...

(registered VH-TCU) suffered an in-flight breakup over the Adelaide suburb of

Blackwood Blackwood may refer to: Botany * African blackwood (''Dalbergia melanoxylon''), a timber tree of Africa * African blackwood ('' Erythrophleum africanum''), (''Peltophorum africanum'') also Rhodesian blackwood, trees from Africa * Australian blac ...

, killing the sole occupant. * On 30 May 2017, an accident with a Rossair Cessna 441 (registered VH-XMJ) that took off from

Renmark Airport Renmark Airport is an airport serving Renmark, South Australia. It is located southwest of Renmark and operated by the Renmark Paringa Council. Facilities The airport resides at an elevation of above sea level. It has two main runways: 07 ...

and crashed approximately 4 kilometres away killed all three occupants on board.

References

External links

{{Regional Aviation Association of Australia Airlines established in 1963 Airlines disestablished in 2018 Airlines of South Australia Companies based in Adelaide Defunct airlines of Australia Defunct charter airlines Regional Aviation Association of Australia 1963 establishments in Australia 2018 disestablishments in Australia