Operational event, Darwin Aerodrome On 17th December 2008, a Boeing 737-4MO aircraft made a significant diversion around weather at night while en route to Darwin, Northern Territory from Denpasar, Indonesia. The aircraft was cleared to conduct the runway 11 VHF omnidirectional radio range (VOR) approach via the initial approach fix NASUX. After the weather diversion, it was more convenient for the flight crew to make a pilot intercept of the 285 radial from the VOR but there was a period of misunderstanding as a result of a breakdown in the application of standard radiotelephony readbacks.

Stickshaker activation, Alice Springs On 18th September 2008, a Boeing 717-200 was being operated on a scheduled passenger flight from Cairns, Queensland to Alice Springs, Northern Territory. During the manually-flown visual approach by the pilot in command to runway 30 at Alice Springs aerodrome, the stickshaker activated. The pilot flying lowered the nose while continuing the turn onto final. The stickshaker activated again before the flight crew stabilised the approach to within the operator’s criteria and landed without further incident.