Date:	Saturday 20 March 1993
Time:	16:30
Type:	Robinson R22 Beta
Owner/operator:	Private
Registration:	VH-LTX
MSN:	1996
Year of manufacture:	1992
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Category:	Accident
Location:	Tuggerah, 3 km S of Wyong, NSW -   Australia
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Bankstown, Sydney, NSW (YSBK)
Destination airport:	Tuggerah, NSW
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
The helicopter had been hired by the pilot to take family members on a scenic flight in the local area. It was observed operating at low level between Tacoma and the F3 freeway during the afternoon. During its fourth flight it was observed flying low over the F3 freeway on a southerly heading, then made a rapid 180 degree turn onto a northerly heading, which it maintained for a short time. It then turned to the east, and descended into a shallow depression where it collided with high tension power lines some 47 feet above ground level. Both persons on board sustained fatal injuries.

According to the following contemporary press report:

"Helicopter crash kills two family members

The Canberra Times Monday 22 March 1993 page 12 of 42

SYDNEY: A young policeman and his grandfather were named yesterday as those who had died in a helicopter crash on a property on the NSW central coast on Saturday. They were Christopher Alan GIBB, 22 of Cronulla and William Henry Watts, 76, of Wamberal, near Terrigal on the central coast, police said.

The helicopter crashed in a paddock between the Pacific Highway and the F3 Freeway at Tuggerah, near Wyong, shortly before 5pm. It had left Bankstown Airport some hours earlier. Police said Mr Gibb, a pilot with two year’s experience, had been taking his grandfather on a joy-ride when the accident occurred.

A Bureau of Air Safety spokesman said the aircraft apparently had hit power lines but the bureau could not confirm the cause of the crash until after the investigation."

1. http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/1993/aair/aair199300601.aspx
2. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.aeroclub.com.au/queryac.php?query=&id=572&start=20&expand=LTX]
3. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://coptercrazy.brinkster.net/search/r22show.asp?start=1951&count=50]
4. https://www.australianpolice.com.au/christopher-alan-gibb/
5. http://www.griffin-helicopters.co.uk/accidentdetails.aspx?accidentkey=50768

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
21-Jan-2008 10:00	ASN archive	Added
26-Feb-2010 09:36	harro	Updated [Time, Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
06-Jan-2012 11:29	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative]
21-Sep-2016 15:03	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]