Date:	Sunday 4 February 2007
Time:	16:25
Type:	Piper PA-30-160 Twin Comanche C
Owner/operator:	Private
Registration:	VH-DIC
MSN:	30-1775
Year of manufacture:	1969
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Category:	Accident
Location:	100 metres off Kingscliff beach, Casuarina, NSW -   Australia
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Gold Coast Airport, Coolangatta, Queensland (YBCG/OOL)
Destination airport:	Gold Coast Airport, Coolangatta, Queensland (YBCG/OOL)
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
On 4 February 2007, the owner pilot of a Piper Aircraft Co PA 30 Twin Comanche aircraft, registered VH-DIC, was conducting a private flight from the Gold Coast aerodrome. The pilot was the sole occupant. Approximately 11 minutes after takeoff, at 16:22 Eastern Standard Time, the pilot declared an emergency reporting an engine failure and some 15 seconds later that he was also experiencing problems with the left engine. Approximately 13 minutes after departure, the aircraft impacted the water about 100 metres from Kingscliff beach, adjacent to the suburb of Casuarina, New South Wales. The pilot sustained fatal injuries.

The aircraft wreckage, including most of the lower centre fuselage, wings, and both engines and propellers, were recovered 2 days after the accident. The right propeller was recovered with the blades in the feathered position. The left propeller blades were recovered in the normal operating range with bending consistent with power being applied at the time of the accident.

The ATSB investigation determined that most probably the right engine stopped operating, followed by an unexplained power loss of the left engine. The aircraft airspeed then decreased below the minimum controllable airspeed during the emergency landing before power suddenly returned to the left engine causing the aircraft to pitch nose up and bank sharply to the right and impacting the water.

The pilot held a commercial pilot license and at the time of the accident, had accrued approximately 2,544 hrs total flying time. He purchased the accident aircraft in 1996, and had accrued approximately 940 hrs in that aircraft. At the time of the accident, the weather was generally fine.

1. http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2007/AAIR/aair200700358.aspx
2. http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/24395/aair200700358_002.pdf
3. https://www.northernstar.com.au/news/apn-pilots-body-found-after-plane-crashes-into/14541/
4. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.abc.net.au/cgi-bin/common/printfriendly.pl?/news/australia/qld/goldc/200702/s1840232.htm]
5. https://thejournalismofjohnstapleton.blogspot.co.uk/2007/02/pilot-killed-as-plane-crashes-into-sea.html
6. https://www.tweeddailynews.com.au/news/apn-quiet-sunday-shattered-for-tweed-seaside/145906/
7. http://aus.aviation.narkive.com/9r3VcmLP/plane-crash-off-nsw-today
8. https://www.pprune.org/australia-new-zealand-pacific/262803-piper-cherokee-ditches-off-kingscliff-merged.html

Piper PA-30-160 Twin Comanche C (VH-DIC) in the 1976 Australian Air Race, 21 October 1976:

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
21-Jan-2008 10:00	ASN archive	Added
26-Jan-2008 23:13	Andrew Whitton	Updated
20-Jun-2013 13:09	Uli Elch	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]
21-Apr-2014 16:49	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
11-Apr-2017 18:23	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code]
11-Apr-2017 18:30	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Source, Narrative]
11-Apr-2017 18:33	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Narrative]