Twin Engine Mail Plane Crashes Into Dunes In Wa

[red750]

Channel 7 news has reported this morning that a twin engined freight plane owned by Golden Eagle Airlines has crashed at Cable Beach in Broome.

 

The plane's lights were seen descending towards the sea. Witnesses claimed hearing a "bang like a gun shot" before the plane hit the dunes. The pilot's body was found 3 hours later.

 

 

 

[Guest Darren Masters]

RIP to the pilot. Sad indeed.

 

 

[red750]

A link to further information.

 

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/newshome/14205654/plane-wreck-found-at-cable-beach-one-dead/

 

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[Guest Darren Masters]

Looks like VH-LCK.

 

 

[dazza 38]

Bad news.RIP

 

 

[red750]

A report on Yahoo7 home page says that the pilot had been engaged for only 3 weeks.

 

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/14220389/experts-to-comb-air-crash/

 

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[red750]

(Edit: On return to web page, noted it was dated Aug 31. However, it was not reported here)

 

ATSB Update as reported on Yahoo!7 News:

 

More details have emerged about a fatal plane crash on Broome's Cable Beach last month but the cause of the crash remains a mystery.

 

Pilot Adam Gaffney, 27, was killed when his Piper Seneca crashed into sand dunes 880-metres from the end of the runway.

 

A report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has found that weather conditions were fine and there was plenty of fuel on board.

 

It also states Mr Gaffney had over 200 hours experience flying at night.

 

The ATSB's General Manager of Aviation Safety Investigation Ian Sangston says they are continuing to examine the plane's engine and propellers for signs of trouble.

 

"We obviously have witness reports that there may have been some issue with the engine and so we're obviously very interested in that," he said.

 

"We have recovered the engines for later examination and we've also recovered the propellers which can also help you understand whether there may have been power on at the time or not."

 

The investigation will also focus on GPS tracking reports found in the wreckage, which show the plane's movements before the crash.

 

"There's a GPS print-out effectively of what the aircraft did and didn't do and where it ended up," Mr Sangston said.

 

"So we'll be interested in understanding how the aircraft might have performed and how it was expected to perform and we'll draw parallels and implications of what might have happened and what might not have."

 

Mr Sangston says the aircraft's maintenance record will also be looked at.

 

"That can tell you what might have been done lately on the aircraft. If an item of the aircraft had been changed recently you'd be quite interested in that item of maintenance."

 

Mr Sangston says the purpose of this report is to establish the facts and what needs further investigation.

 

"This report establishes the pilot's takeoff time and the operation on the night which was actually to depart Broome on a freight aircraft flight to Port Hedland and shortly after take-off the aircraft was reported by witnesses to have had some sort of issue with its engines and then the aircraft impacted the ground, what we term as somewhat 'upwind of the runway' on the ground. Unfortunately we the pilot was fatally injured. "

 

Police are yet to reveal whether Mr Gaffney died on impact.

 

"We do go into survivability aspects, so that might go into the use of seatbelts, or what damage the aircraft suffered, whether the seats were taken out of their mountings on the floor and so on. But the actual physical aspects for the occupants are a police matter," he said.

 

"Overall we aim for our investigation to take no longer than twelve months, which would be at the latest the 11th of July next year."