A 27-year-old student pilot of a Drifter ultralight was injured after the flying machine he was undergoing instruction in crashed into a barbed wire fence 250 metres from the Clifton airfield at 1213 hrs yesterday



The student was airlifted by RACQ CareFlight to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane with a serious arm injury - the uninjured Lone Eagle Flying School instructor and student were both from Toowoomba

A Darwin based 22-year-old charter pilot has lost his life when the 6-seat twin-engine Cessna C310 he was flying crashed and exploded shortly after departing the Nguiu Airport on Bathurst Island at around 2150 hrs last night



The Barrier Air aircraft had been hired by Chartair to augment a fleet of five aircraft that had just dropped off some Tiwi Bombers Territory AFL league players - the pilot was the only person on board

A search is underway this morning for a light aircraft with 2 persons on board missing on a flight from the Oaks to Pooncarie in western New South Wales



The family of the pilot raised the alarm late yesterday when the aircraft failed to arrive at its destination - the search is to resume this morning even though the weather in the area is deteriorating and is possibility the reason for the aircraft's non-arrival

A helicopter pilot on a recreational training flight lost control of his rotary-wing flying machine when attempting to land at the Cessnock Aerodrome in the NSW Hunter Valley today



The R-44 Robbo crashed and caught fire killing the two passengers on board - the male pilot who was in his early 40's - was able to free himself from the wreckage and was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to the John Hunter Hospital in a critical condition suffering from serious arm burns

Government privatised all secondary airports in Australia in 1998 - these airports were mainly used by the smaller charter operators and flying training schools along with a large number of privately owned light aircraft



After privatisation most of the 'non-commercial' aircraft left the secondary airports due to 'commercial rent' pressures, the costs of which they were unable to 'pass-on' as private operators - accommodation was found elsewhere and this has proved a boon to most of the regional sectors surrounding the OZ capital cities