Admin Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 Two men are believed to have died in an ultralight aircraft crash at Oak Valley, southwest of Townsville this morning. Police said a witness saw the aircraft at 8.50am attempting a turn when the motor was heard to increase in revolutions and then cut-out. The ultralight then spiralled to the ground. Police conducted a search with air support from other ultralight operators. The air search located wreckage semi-submerged in a creek and then guided searchers to the location. Police and the Australian Ultralight Association are investigating the incident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yenn Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 Very sad news and unfortunately the incidence is not decreasing, but as our numbers increase it may happen. I would like to know if competency based training would have reduced the incidence of crashes, both fatal and non fatal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fred Bear Posted May 20, 2007 Share Posted May 20, 2007 A little bit of a sad weekend for our scene. RIP to the two deceased and a speedy recovery for the fellow flier in WA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
River Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 Latest info re sad losses up north... This is a forum area where I wish we had no posts but... ABC News Online Last Update: Sunday, May 20, 2007. 1:00pm (AEST) Man killed in Qld plane crash A man has died and another man is missing after an ultralight plane crash in north Queensland. Rescue crews found a man's body and the wreckage of the plane at Oak Valley, 20 kilometres south-west of Townsville, around 10am AEST. Spokeswoman Cassie Glanville says investigations are continuing into what caused the crash. "A witness saw the aircraft attempt a turn, when the motor was heard to increase in revolutions and then cut out. The ultralight has then spiralled to the ground," she said. "An ultralight located the aircraft around 10am and guided ground crews to the wreckage that was semi-submerged in a creek." =========== News corp Two believed dead in ultralight crash May 20, 2007 01:40pm Article from: AAP TWO men are believed to have been killed in an ultralight aircraft crash in north Queensland. A police spokesman said a witness saw the aircraft spiral to the ground about 8.50am (AEST) today at Oak Valley, southwest of Townsville. They reported hearing an increase in revolutions from the engine as the aircraft attempted a turn before the motor cut out completely. Police conducted an extensive ground search with the help of local ultralight operators and the plane was located around 10am (AEST) semi-submerged in a creek. No further details were immediately available and investigations into the incident are continuing. =========== FairfaxDigital Online News Two believed dead in ultralight crash May 20, 2007 - 1:39PM Two men are believed to have been killed in an ultralight aircraft crash in north Queensland. A police spokesman said a witness saw the aircraft spiral to the ground about 8.50am (AEST) on Sunday at Oak Valley, south-west of Townsville. They reported hearing an increase in revolutions from the engine as the aircraft attempted a turn before the motor cut out completely. Police conducted an extensive ground search with the help of local ultralight operators and the plane was located around 10am (AEST) semi-submerged in a creek. No further details were immediately available and investigations into the incident are continuing. =========== Joyflight tragedy Townsville Bulletin LENDL RYAN 21May07 TWO men are dead after an ultralight plane crash at Oak Valley yesterday morning. The aircraft was attempting a turn over the Montpelier Air Park, 20 km southwest of Townsville, when its motor cut-out sending it spiralling to the ground at approximately 8.50 am. An extensive air and ground search was conducted before the plane was found headfirst and partly submerged in an embankment off Sachs Creek. Rugged terrain and thick bush cover prevented crews finding the wreck for more than an hour. An extensive air and ground search was conducted before the plane was found positioned headfirst and partly submerged in an embankment off Sachs Creek. It is understood the men, Kevin James Hayes, 48, and a 24-year-old male who was to be formally identified today, had taken a morning joyflight. The pilot is believed to have been an experienced pilot and a member of Recreational Aviation Australia for a number of years. Relatives of the pair, including the older man's daughter and the girlfriend of the ultralight's passenger, were at the airstrip at the time but did not see the plane go down. The alarm was only raised when the ultralight did not return as scheduled. Two police squad cars were first on the scene, followed by fire and ambulance crews. Because of the rough terrain it took three other aircraft, including a fixed wing plane, to locate the wreckage from the air before directing ground crews to the site. Regional police duty officer Inspector Ron Walmsley said it took crews more than an hour to plough through the harsh terrain to reach the two men. "Actually locating the site was a problem because there were no tracks to the area," Insp Walmsley said. "There were a lot of low shrubs so we had difficulty finding the crash site. "We had to use light aircrafts to fly around the area to conduct an air search to locate the wreck and then to obviously guide our ground parties in, and that took a bit of time as well. "With the assistance of the rural fire brigade we had to cut a track into the crash site. The police dive squad was called to recover the bodies and the wreckage was taken away using a tow truck and front loader tractor. The owner of the tractor, Bob Van Damme, helped lift the wreck to allow rescue crews to recover the bodies. "I was out looking at cattle when I heard the planes circling around," he said. "I just came down to see what was going on and whether they needed any assistance. "It (the plane) was in pretty bad shape, it hit the tree pretty hard. "It came in from the side and took the tops of the other trees before coming down." When the damaged plane was eventually recovered, the seats could be seen broken in half, its undercarriage shattered in pieces, the wings snapped, and the pilot and passenger helmets still attached to the main structure. Insp Walmsley said investigations into what caused the joyflight to go horribly wrong were still in their early stages. "We will work with the family and investigators and the ultralight association to try and find out why it happened," he said. "At this stage we don't know why but apparently the aircraft came down about three or four kilometres from the airstrip." Recreational Aviation Australia operation manager Lee Ungermann said despite the fragile appearance of ultralights, they were a safe vehicle capable of withstanding a crash. "For that type of vehicle you might be lucky if there's one or two incidents a year, considering how many people fly those sorts of planes," he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fred Bear Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 Sounds and looks like quite a major impact. Wonder what a/c type is? Hard to tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fred Bear Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 A YOUNG woman lost her father and boyfriend in a microlight plane crash at Oak Valley south-west of Townsville yesterday. Both men from the Townsville suburb of Mount Louisa were killed when the microlight apparently experienced engine trouble during a 20-minute joy-ride from the Montpelier Air Park. Inspector Ron Walmsley from Townsville Police, said the young woman was waiting at the air park, when the crash occurred about 3km away. "She was very distraught," he said. Witnesses told police they saw the aircraft in the sky, and then it "fell out of the sky". "Some reports suggest the motor revved loudly and then cut out but that's a matter for the aviation investigators," Insp Walmsley said. A search by police and local ultralight pilots found the wreckage about an hour later, partly submerged in a deep water hole about 3 1/2km from the air park. The bodies of both victims were pulled from inside the microlight. Insp Walmsley said a post-mortem examination would reveal whether the men died from injuries suffered in the plane crash, or drowned. Laurie Brown, from the Wulguru Fire Station, said there was extensive damage to the microlight's propeller, wing and frame, and one of its wheels was torn off. "The damage was consistent with witness reports that it hit a tree on the way down," Mr Brown said. Local resident Graham Law said in his 25 years in the area, there had never been a serious accident at the air park. "This will upset a lot of people. It's a very tight knit community down there (at the air park)," Mr Law said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Crezzi Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 Sounds and looks like quite a major impact. Wonder what a/c type is? Hard to tell. It looks like it was a Pegasus Quasar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kylep Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 From another forum Regards, Kyle Folks, Kevin and I trained together and all over here at Montpelier are still somewhat raw from the passing of a great friend and aviator. Most of us were away at Ingham enjoying a fantastic Cross Country Nav when Kevin came to grief. Unfotunately the media really jumped in and the graphic pictures of the wreckage of the Pegasus shortly after recovery made the front page. Sadly the media have made conflicting reports over the sequence of events and did barge their way into the airfield on private property in an attempt to secure exclusive shots of Kev's grieving daughter. There were witnesses to the accident and they have been interviewed by the Chief Investigator and Police at the scene yesterday. Before everyone asks the obvious questions, all I can say at present is that the aircraft impacted the ground (and a tree) heavily making the wreckage difficult to discern post the accident. A full investigation had been already commenced when we returned back from our cross country about 4 hours after the event and I am confident that the independent investigator will reach a conclusion on this one. Please join us wishing the immediate families the deepest sympathy whilst they grieve their tragic loss. If any further information arises that could assure your further safety arising from this accident, I will let you know as appropriate. Regards Perry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Student Pilot Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 It's very hard to tell but looks a bit like a trike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fred Bear Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 wreckage of the Pegasus ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now