On 1 December 1999, four young friends on a joy flight were killed in a crash, near Gisborne, north of Melbourne. Relatives witnessed the near-new Cessna 172 crash into a paddock.

The group had flown 70 km from a south-east Melbourne aerodrome and were believed to be about to return when something went wrong. A spokesman said there had been no emergency call made by the trainee pilot and no apparent reason for the crash.