February 22 2006
A 28-year-old professional helicopter pilot and 3 passengers on board a Mt Isa based R44 helicopter lost their lives when the aircraft impacted a low hill shortly after take-off from the Gunpowder airstrip 150 kilometres north of Mount Isa in western QLD

 
"The pilot was Scottish-born Vita Stott who had only gained her commercial licence eight months earlier from a Sunshine Coast helicopter flying school"
 
News Desk report on a rotary-wing fatal aircraft accident only two weeks ago click HERE

February 26 2006
A two-seat Victa Air-Tourer was forced to make an emergency landing at Cattle Point south of Rocky after the engine apparently failed
 
The aircraft had departed earlier from the Emu Park airstrip east of Rocky - "the pilot and passenger were not injured but there was some minor damage to the aircraft's undercarriage"

News Desk Comment

The OZ designed and manufactured Victa Air-Tourer - made popular by the "Lawn-Mower People" during the early '60's - was an ideal pilot training machine as it was fully aerobatic teaching many a student pilot the correct use of "spin recovery"

Production ceased after Victa failed to gain import protection against similar overseas products that were flooding into the country