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Accidents · NTSB DCA18WA137 · Preliminary: the investigation is not finished

Boeing 737 incident near Melbourne, Au, April 5, 2018

On April 5, 2018 at about 8:30 am local time, a Boeing 737, registered UNKNOWN, was involved in an incident during prior to flight near Melbourne. It was flown under non-U.S. commercial rules. The NTSB record does not give the injuries.

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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
April 5, 2018 · about 8:30 am local time
Place
Melbourne, Au
Type
Incident
Injuries
The NTSB record does not give the injuries.
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 April 05, 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

  1. Fire/smoke (non-impact) during prior to flight 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)

Other NTSB records under UNKNOWN the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time

2026-09-10GAA26WA322 · accident near Agua Boa, OF · destroyed · fatal
2025-02-17ERA25LA129 · accident near Philadelphia, PA · damage not recorded · no injuries
2025-01-09WPR25LA077 · incident near Los Angeles, CA · destroyed · no injuries
2022-11-29GAA23WA035 · accident near Drummondville · destroyed · fatal
2021-10-13ANC22LA002 · accident near Chickaloon, AK · damage not recorded · no injuries
2020-07-29CEN20WA319 · accident near Sergio Perez De Leon · substantial damage
2019-05-13DCA19WA150 · incident near Derby · no injuries
2018-05-15CEN18WA188 · accident near Tuzantan · destroyed · fatal
2018-02-18DCA18WA135 · incident near Abeam Cooma Aerodome
2018-02-18DCA18WA136 · incident near Ballina/Byron Gateway Aerodome · no injuries

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 docket at the NTSB holds the report as a PDF and the investigation's photographs and documents. This site 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 DCA18WA137.