Boeing 737 incident near Ballina/Byron Gateway Aerodome, Au, February 18, 2018
On February 18, 2018 at about 9:30 am local time, a Boeing 737, registered UNKNOWN, was involved in an incident during enroute near Ballina/Byron Gateway Aerodome. It was flown under non-U.S. commercial rules. No one was hurt; 174 people were on board or involved.
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this incident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- February 18, 2018 · about 9:30 am local time
- Place
- Ballina/Byron Gateway Aerodome, Au
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 174 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- not recorded
- Aircraft
- Boeing 737 8FE · all 737s on the register
- Registration
- UNKNOWN · no longer on the register
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight · non-U.S. commercial rules
The NTSB's narrative preliminary · quoted from the NTSB record
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has notified the NTSB of an incident involving a BOEING 737 airplane that occurred on February 18, 2018. The NTSB has appointed a U.S. Accredited Representative to assist the government of Australia's investigation under the provisions of ICAO Annex 13.All investigative information will be released by the ATSB.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
What happened, in order
- Navigation error during enroute defining event
The aircraft
- Landing gear: retractable
The flight
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabi | 4 | |||
| Flight crew | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 168 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under UNKNOWN the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number DCA18WA136.