Rossair Charter was an air charter company based in Adelaide, Australia.[1] In November 2013, it merged with Air South, another South Australia based charter company.[2] In July 2018, the company was placed into voluntary administration.[3][4]

Rossair
IATA ICAO Call sign
N/A RFS -
Founded19 October 1963
Ceased operationsJuly 2018
HubsAdelaide
Fleet size9
HeadquartersAdelaide, Australia
Websitewww.rossaircharter.com.au
Rossair Cessna 441 at Adelaide Airport (2006).

History

edit

The company was established in 1963.[1] It was Australia's second oldest continually operating air transport company, the oldest being Qantas.[2] On 1 June 2017 the company ceased operations after one of their aircraft on a training flight crashed in Renmark, South Australia. All 3 on board, including the company's Chief Pilot and a CASA Inspector, were killed.[5] Following this incident the company continued non-flying operations until July 2018 when it was placed into voluntary administration.

Fleet

edit

As of November 2013 the Rossair fleet consists of the following aircraft:[6]

Incidents and accidents

edit
  • On 25 January 1972, a Rossair Beechcraft V35A (registered VH-TYA) collided with a radio mast guy wire and subsequently crashed at Compressor Station 13 of the Moomba Natural Gas Pipeline, 65 miles south-east of Leigh Creek, South Australia. All four of the aircraft's occupants were killed.[7]
  • On 1 February 1976, a Rossair Cessna 172 (registered VH-UGC) collided with a Piper PA-28 Cherokee on final approach to Parafield Airport. All four people on board the Rossair Cessna 172 and the sole occupant of the Piper PA-28 Cherokee were killed.[8]
  • On 27 March 1976, a Rossair Cessna 180 (registered VH-TCU) suffered an in-flight breakup over the Adelaide suburb of Blackwood, killing the sole occupant.[9]
  • On 30 May 2017, an accident with a Rossair Cessna 441 (registered VH-XMJ) that took off from Renmark Airport and crashed approximately 4 kilometres away killed all three occupants on board.[10]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Rossair Charter - About Us Archived 14 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 27 November 2013.
  2. ^ a b Evans, Richard (26 November 2013). "Rossair merges with Air South". The Advertiser (Adelaide). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  3. ^ "Rossair calls in the Administrators - Australian Flying". Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  4. ^ "Rossair calls in voluntary administrators". The Courier. 4 July 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Rossair chief pilot among dead in Riverland plane crash". ABC News. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  6. ^ Australian civil aircraft register search Archived 10 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine, using "Rossair" as the search parameter. Search conducted 20 June 2017.
  7. ^ "Aircraft Accident Investigation Summary Report AS/724/1004" (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia: Department of Civil Aviation. 30 August 1972. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  8. ^ "Cessna 172M Aircraft VH-UGC and Piper PA28-180 Aircraft, VH-UQN Parafield Airport SA, 01 February 1976" (PDF). Air Safety Investigation Branch. November 1976. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  9. ^ "Cessna 180J VH-TCU, over Blackwood, 10 kilometres south of Adelaide, SA, 27 March 1976" (PDF). Air Safety Investigation Branch. 14 June 1979. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  10. ^ "Three dead after light plane crashes near Renmark Aerodrome in the Riverland". The Advertiser (Adelaide). News Corp Australia. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
edit