2017 Sydney Seaplanes DHC-2 crash
de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver · Loss of control following pilot incapacitation
From Cottage Point, New South Wales to Rose Bay Seaplane Base (RSE)
Event
- NTSB case
- WPR18WA060
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Unknown · led by another country; figures from NTSB notifications
- Event fatalities
- 6 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 6
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 0 serious · 0 minor (NTSB)
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Charter & commuter
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Not recorded
de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver
- Aircraft type
- de Havilland DHC-2
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- VH-NOO
- Operator
- Sydney Seaplanes
- Onboard fatalities
- 6
- Route
- From Cottage Point, New South WalesTo Rose Bay Seaplane Base (RSE)
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Unknown
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Initial climb
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Loss of control in flight
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Physical
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
- Aircraft › Aircraft handling/service
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
The 2017 Sydney Seaplanes DHC-2 crash occurred on 31 December 2017 at about 3:15 pm AEDT (UTC+11:00), when a de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver configured as a floatplane crashed – less than two minutes after takeoff – into Jerusalem Bay off Cowan Creek, on the northern outskirts of Sydney, Australia. The aircraft, operated by Sydney Seaplanes, was carrying five passengers and a pilot, all of whom were killed in the crash. It was returning diners from Cottage Point Inn restaurant to Rose Bay Water Airport.
The ATSB believes it probable that the pilot's performance was adversely affected by carbon monoxide poisoning. Post mortem tests on the bodies of the victims showed raised levels of CO in the blood, and a crack in the exhaust system was seen as the likely source of the gas.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) opened an investigation into the accident. Most of the wreckage of the aircraft was raised on 4 January 2018. The intermediate report, published on 31 January 2018, indicated that the aircraft was found to have followed a differing flight path from the usual, and had failed to climb to the necessary altitude needed to fly over the surrounding terrain. It also indicated that the preliminary examination of aircraft flight control surfaces and controls seemed in sound order and expected positions, and that the engine sounded normal to witnesses on the ground. The aircraft landed inverted and all six on board suffered fatal injuries.
On 28 January 2021, the ATSB released a final report into the accident, which concluded that the pilot and passengers had higher than normal levels of carboxyhaemoglobin in their blood. Additionally, several pre-existing cracks in the exhaust collector ring very likely released exhaust gas into the engine/accessory bay; gas very likely entered the cabin through holes in the main firewall where three bolts were missing from the magneto access panels. The aircraft was fitted with a disposable CO detector, but CO detectors of its kind have been widely deemed unreliable.
The operators of the aircraft have implemented changes to the aircraft's system of maintenance, which include:
The aircraft has been fitted with active electronic CO detectors.
The check for the serviceability of the CO detectors has been incorporated into the monthly emergency equipment checklist.
The new maintenance provider has been directed to classify the removal and installation of the main firewall access panels as a critical maintenance operation task, requiring certification by a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer and a conformity inspection.
The new maintenance provider has been directed to conduct a mandatory test for the presence of CO following maintenance activities on the engine exhaust system or use of the main firewall access panels.
An inspection of the magneto access panels and CO testing has been incorporated into the 100-hourly 'B' check inspection.
Text from the Wikipedia article “2017 Sydney Seaplanes DHC-2 crash” (revision 1366702140, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
NTSB narrative
On December 31, 2017, at 1515 local time, a De Havilland DHC-2, VH-NOO, collided with water during takeoff initial climb near Cottage Point, Australia. The airplane was destroyed and the pilot and five passengers were fatally injured. The flight was operated under the pertinent civil regulations of the Government of Australia.The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Government of Australia. This report is for information purposes only and contains only information released by the Government of Australia. Further information pertaining to this accident may be obtained from:
Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) P.O. Box 967, Civic Square Canberra A.C.T. 2608 Australia
Tel: +612 6274 6054 Fax: +612 6274 6434 www.atsb.gov.au
Verbatim NTSB factual narrative from the NTSB dataset
Sources
Wikipedia article: 2017 Sydney Seaplanes DHC-2 crash
- Revision
- 1366702140 · 2026-07-29 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q48809903
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
NTSB record WPR18WA060
- Event ID
- 20180102X85501
- Case number
- WPR18WA060
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "2017 Sydney Seaplanes DHC-2 crash" (page 56176808, revision 1366702140); merged with NTSB case WPR18WA060 (events / aircraft)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site; country from Wikidata (P17)
- Map position
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports); gaps and aircraft details from NTSB record WPR18WA060
- Operation
- Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): A seaplane operator carrying passengers home from a restaurant: a small commercial charter and tour flight. The article: "The aircraft, operated by Sydney Seaplanes, was carrying five passengers and a pilot"
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- Wikipedia: not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (2)
- One occurrence in two sources, merged: the Wikipedia article "2017 Sydney Seaplanes DHC-2 crash" and NTSB case WPR18WA060, matched by the same aircraft registration and date. For this event outside the United States Wikipedia's values are used where the two differ; each value names its source.
- No bulk values were replaced by the NTSB case API.