Avtex Air Services Pty Ltd, trading as Airtex Aviation, was an Australian air charter company with its head office at Bankstown Airport,

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. Formed in 1982, the company operated passenger and freight air charter services, as well as air search and rescue services. On 20 July 2010 the Civil Aviation Safety Authority suspended the operator certificates of Avtex and its sister company Skymaster Air Services, which operated the organisation's piston engine aircraft, after a crash on an Airtex aircraft in

Canley Vale Canley Vale is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Canley Vale is located 30 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Fairfield and is part of the South ...

in western Sydney which caused two deaths. A number of other serious incidents in the time prior to the accident had been taken in consideration for this decision. Further enquiries found that "pilot bullying, deliberate rule breaking and corner cutting were amongst the unsafe practices". After the matter ran its course by February 2011, Avtex and Skymaster were left without further recourse against the suspension of their air operator's certificates and had to cease operations.

Fleet

As of December 2009, the Airtex fleet consisted of: *1 Cessna 340 *2 Fairchild SA227-AC Metro III *10

Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engined aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also license-built in a number of Latin American countries. Tar ...

Piper PA-31P-350 Mojave The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engined aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also license-built in a number of Latin American countries. Tar ...

Piper PA-31 Navajo The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engined aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also license-built in a number of Latin American countries. Tar ...

*2 Ted Smith Aerostar 600 *1 Ted Smith Aerostar 601P

Incidents and accidents

* On 25 June 2001, an Airtex Aviation Embraer EMB-110P1 Bandeirante aircraft with nine people on board transmitted a mayday call on its approach to the airport in the town of

Cootamundra, New South Wales Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. ...

. The pilot reported smoke in the cabin and an engine and gear failure, followed by instructing the passengers to adopt the "brace position". The aircraft touched down and skidded 400 metres (437 yards) with its right engine in flames. All passengers survived the crash. * On 9 April 2008, at 23:30, an Airtex Aviation

Fairchild Metro III The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild Aircraft at a plant in San ...

aircraft took off from

Sydney Airport Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (colloquially Mascot Airport, Kingsford Smith Airport, or Sydney Airport; ; ) is an international airport in Sydney, Australia, located 8 km (5 mi) south of the Sydney central business district, in the ...

in Sydney, bound for Brisbane with a consignment of air freight. Shortly after takeoff, ten nautical miles (18.5 km / 11.5 miles) southeast of the airport, the aircraft turned contrary to instructions from air traffic control, initially to the right when the controller had instructed a left turn. The pilot responded that he was experiencing "minor technical problems". The aircraft disappeared from radar at a height of 4,000 ft (1,219 metres). The wreckage was located on the seabed nine kilometres south-east of

Bundeena Bundeena is a village on the outskirts of southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bundeena is located 29 km south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, local governmen ...

. * On 15 June 2010, an Airtex Aviation

Piper PA-31 Mojave The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engined aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also license-built in a number of Latin American countries. Ta ...

clipped power lines and crashed in

in Sydney's south-west shortly after take-off from Bankstown Airport. The pilot and flight nurse were killed.

References

{{Airlines of Australia Defunct airlines of Australia Airlines established in 1982 1982 establishments in Australia

Fleet

Incidents and accidents

See also

References