VH-MDX, a Cessna 210, was chartered by four Sydney workmates for a flight back from the Whitsunday Coast Airport on Sunday 9 August 1981.

The pilot had submitted a flight plan following the coast to Taree thence inland via Craven and Singleton to Bankstown, a suburb of Sydney.

[4] At that time, the aircraft was identified by radar to be 45 nmi (52 mi; 83 km) from RAAF Base Williamtown near the Barrington Tops, or about 40 km (22 nmi; 25 mi) north-west of its planned track.

[1] The aircraft's subsequent course is not clear, but the pilot reported ice accumulation and difficulty in gaining altitude.

Technologies employed include satellite imagery, aerial photography, magnetometry and chemical sampling of water downstream from the search area.