Post by corsair67 on Nov 2, 2006 15:01:26 GMT 12
From news.com.au.
Plane 'repaired before crash'
By Annabelle McDonald
November 02, 2006 02:00am.
A QUEENSLAND businessman lost his son, an employee and a veteran pilot when a plane he bought only last month crashed into a hill, killing all on board.
The mid-1970s twin-engine aircraft - purchased by Tim Straatmans to transport his pipe-laying workers across outback Queensland - had undergone repairs in Emerald before returning to Gladstone on Queensland's central coast on Tuesday night.
New Zealand-born Brendon Rassie, 47, a flying instructor and father of two from Rockhampton, was flying the Piper Chieftain in stormy conditions when it crashed into a 200m hill on a cattle property near the town of Raglan, about 50km short of its destination.
Mr Straatmans's son Luke, 22, from Boyne Island near Gladstone, hoped one day to fly the plane owned by his father's company Armflame after he obtained his private pilot's licence last year.
Also on board was employee Keith Suter, 33, from Gladstone.
The three men were killed instantly in the crash.
An Australian Transport Safety Bureau report yesterday revealed Queensland as the worst state or territory for light aircraft fatalities, accounting for 225 of the 647 deaths between 1990 and 2004.
The report does not include the light aircraft crash at Lockhart River in far north Queensland that killed 15 people in May last year - the worst civil aviation accident in Australia since 1968.
ATSB figures show the number of fatal accidents involving professional pilots is increasing - from 60 per cent between 1990 and 1993 to 74 per cent between 2002 and last year.
Preliminary investigations into Tuesday's crash have been unable to determine the cause.
According to the ATSB, the plane dropped off the radar at a height of about 1650m and no distress call was recorded in the lead-up to the crash at about 7pm (AEST).
At that time, Raglan residents reported the sound of a plane going overhead followed by a loud noise and explosion.
One witness said he heard the engine revving loudly "like a jet" before the aircraft went up in flames.
The plane nosedived into a hill at high speed, about 50m from the top, scattering wreckage over the crest of the rise.
The wreckage and voice tapes of the flight will be examined as part of the investigation.
ATSB spokesman Alan Stray said rain in the area had the potential to wash away some of the evidence.
"But hopefully we can still put the pieces together and come up with an explanation for this tragedy," he said.
"It could take some time."
A pilot who spoke to Mr Straatmans and Mr Rassie about seven hours before the crash said the mechanics had recently replaced the aircraft's starting motor in Emerald.
"That's a pretty normal procedure, though. I don't know if it would have had anything to do with the crash."
The accident has stirred up painful memories for David Henderson, whose brother Robert, an executive, was one of six people killed in a plane crash near Benalla, Victoria, in 2004 when their light light crashed into the side of a mountain.
Mr Henderson said yesterday that if the cause of this week's crash was a case of the pilot being unaware of the hill, it could have been prevented, along with the accident that killed his brother.
He called for air traffic authorities to make terrain collision avoidance systems compulsory for any plane with eight seats or more, as is required in the US.
He also urged air traffic controllers to take on more responsibility and monitor flights, particularly in bad weather, for as long as there is radar coverage - even if pilots are flying below 2590m in uncontrolled airspace.
"This sort of accident can be reduced dramatically," Mr Henderson said.
"You can't expect air traffic controllers to monitor areas they don't have to, but when there's radar coverage available, they should be expected to watch - and if need be to help - the pilot right down to the ground."
Plane 'repaired before crash'
By Annabelle McDonald
November 02, 2006 02:00am.
A QUEENSLAND businessman lost his son, an employee and a veteran pilot when a plane he bought only last month crashed into a hill, killing all on board.
The mid-1970s twin-engine aircraft - purchased by Tim Straatmans to transport his pipe-laying workers across outback Queensland - had undergone repairs in Emerald before returning to Gladstone on Queensland's central coast on Tuesday night.
New Zealand-born Brendon Rassie, 47, a flying instructor and father of two from Rockhampton, was flying the Piper Chieftain in stormy conditions when it crashed into a 200m hill on a cattle property near the town of Raglan, about 50km short of its destination.
Mr Straatmans's son Luke, 22, from Boyne Island near Gladstone, hoped one day to fly the plane owned by his father's company Armflame after he obtained his private pilot's licence last year.
Also on board was employee Keith Suter, 33, from Gladstone.
The three men were killed instantly in the crash.
An Australian Transport Safety Bureau report yesterday revealed Queensland as the worst state or territory for light aircraft fatalities, accounting for 225 of the 647 deaths between 1990 and 2004.
The report does not include the light aircraft crash at Lockhart River in far north Queensland that killed 15 people in May last year - the worst civil aviation accident in Australia since 1968.
ATSB figures show the number of fatal accidents involving professional pilots is increasing - from 60 per cent between 1990 and 1993 to 74 per cent between 2002 and last year.
Preliminary investigations into Tuesday's crash have been unable to determine the cause.
According to the ATSB, the plane dropped off the radar at a height of about 1650m and no distress call was recorded in the lead-up to the crash at about 7pm (AEST).
At that time, Raglan residents reported the sound of a plane going overhead followed by a loud noise and explosion.
One witness said he heard the engine revving loudly "like a jet" before the aircraft went up in flames.
The plane nosedived into a hill at high speed, about 50m from the top, scattering wreckage over the crest of the rise.
The wreckage and voice tapes of the flight will be examined as part of the investigation.
ATSB spokesman Alan Stray said rain in the area had the potential to wash away some of the evidence.
"But hopefully we can still put the pieces together and come up with an explanation for this tragedy," he said.
"It could take some time."
A pilot who spoke to Mr Straatmans and Mr Rassie about seven hours before the crash said the mechanics had recently replaced the aircraft's starting motor in Emerald.
"That's a pretty normal procedure, though. I don't know if it would have had anything to do with the crash."
The accident has stirred up painful memories for David Henderson, whose brother Robert, an executive, was one of six people killed in a plane crash near Benalla, Victoria, in 2004 when their light light crashed into the side of a mountain.
Mr Henderson said yesterday that if the cause of this week's crash was a case of the pilot being unaware of the hill, it could have been prevented, along with the accident that killed his brother.
He called for air traffic authorities to make terrain collision avoidance systems compulsory for any plane with eight seats or more, as is required in the US.
He also urged air traffic controllers to take on more responsibility and monitor flights, particularly in bad weather, for as long as there is radar coverage - even if pilots are flying below 2590m in uncontrolled airspace.
"This sort of accident can be reduced dramatically," Mr Henderson said.
"You can't expect air traffic controllers to monitor areas they don't have to, but when there's radar coverage available, they should be expected to watch - and if need be to help - the pilot right down to the ground."
