A 64-year-old West OZ pilot from Bunbury - Gerald Repacholi whose colourful battles with authorities hit headlines in the 1990's - was crop dusting near Wirrinya in NSW last Sunday when a downdraught caught his Cessna A188B forcing him into an emergency landing situation that was unsuccessful after it burst into flames shortly after impacting the ground



Gerald broke his hip thigh and a collarbone along with a few ribs - "..nothing kills me - I'm a little bit hard to kill - I'm made of steel"

A Cessna 172N on a charter sight-seeing flight around Fraser Island with 4-persons on board has crashed around 6 km south of Happy Valley after the engine failed to develop full power during the initial climb out from the makeshift beach runway



"The aircraft struck the ground and flipped over - the 22-year-old male pilot and his three passengers were treated for minor bruising at the scene"

The pilot of a cattle mustering R22 Robbo helicopter escaped injury after the rotary-wing flying machine he was operating landed heavily after an apparent engine failure on take-off - the R22 then rolled onto it's side and caught fire



"After takeoff the helicopter lost power and the pilot made a forced landing - The helicopter rolled onto its side and was destroyed in a post-impact fire"

A female sailplane pilot sustained serious injures after the powered flying machine she was operating impacted the ground during what appears to be a landing sequence after returning to Benalla in Victoria from a cross-country flight into NSW



"The 80-year-old woman was airlifted to the Alfred Hospital with life threatening injuries"

An ultralight pilot - believed to be in his mid 60's - has crashed his single-seat machine into Lake Hume in Victoria after having departed from his home town of Holbrook north of Albury in NSW a little earlier in the day - he was not seriously injured



"There were reports that the aircraft was flying low and doing "loops" for several minutes before it hit the water"