The head of Sydney Seaplanes has described as “totally inexplicable” the reported actions of a pilot involved in a crash that killed a British muti-millionaire and his extended family on New Year’s Eve.
A preliminary report issued Wednesday by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau indicated the Beaver DHC-2 aircraft was not following the standard flight path after it took off from Cottage point.
Instead, it had turned into a bay and was trying to climb when it crashed during what witnesses described as a tight right-hand turn.
The report did not determine a probable cause of the crash but a likely explanation appears to be an aerodynamic stall.
However, the plane was not required to have cockpit voice or flight data recorders and was not fitted with commercial video recording equipment so investigators are relying on witness reports.
“While the exact take-off path from Cottage Point has yet to be established, the aircraft was observed by witnesses to enter Jerusalem Bay,’’ the report said.
“The aircraft was observed to enter the bay at an altitude below the height of the surrounding terrain .
“Several witnesses also reported hearing the aircraft’s engine and stated that the sound was constant and appeared normal.”
“Shortly after entering Jerusalem Bay, numerous witnesses reported seeing the aircraft suddenly enter a steep right turn and the aircraft’s nose suddenly drop before the aircraft collided with the water in a near vertical position.
“The aircraft came to rest inverted and with the cabin submerged.”
Pilot Gareth Morgan had more than 10,000 hours experience, 9000 of them in floatplanes, and had completed a string of tests and endorsements after returning to Australia in May, 2017.
Sydney Seaplanes chief executive Aaron Shaw described Morgan as a highly skilled, experienced and trained pilot who was flying to a location he had flown to hundreds of times before.
“The key question arising from the Report is why the plane crashed approximately half way down Jerusalem Bay, which is surrounded by steep terrain and has no exit,” Shaw said.
“It is not a route we authorise in our Landing & Take Off Area Register and the plane simply should not have been where it was.
“Further, the aircraft is then reported to have entered in to an 80-90 degree bank angle turn.
“A turn of this nature at low altitude by a pilot with Gareth’s skills, experience and intimate knowledge of the location is totally inexplicable.
“We hope the ATSB’s request for further eye witness accounts will shed additional light on these matters.”
The crash at Jerusalem Bay in the Hawkesbury River region north of Sydney took the life of top UK executive Richard Cousins, his extended family and experienced seaplane pilot Gareth Morgan.
With Cousins, the chief executive of Global food giant Compass Group, were his sons Edward and William as well as fiancé Emma Bowden and her 11-year-old daughter Heather. Cousins and Bowden, a magazine arts editor, were due to be married in July and the family had been eating at a waterfront restaurant.
The ATSB found no evidence of an in-flight break-up or pre-impact structural damage in the Sydney Seaplanes aircraft.
There was also no evidence of a birdstrike or of flight control issues and initial fuel testing did not find water or impurities.
Sydney Seaplanes suspended operations after the accident. The company resumed service using its Cessna aircraft on January 15 but with an interim provision of having two crew on board.
It has also reviewed the maintenance status of all aircraft and required pilots to do additional training. The review found maintenance had been carried out as required.
“Since the accident, we have done everything possible to assist the ATSB, the NSW Police and CASA to understand how this tragic event occurred,” the Sydney Seaplanes boss said.
“Whilst the precise cause of the accident remains unknown, the preliminary report reflects the excellent flying conditions on the day and suggests no evidence of airframe, fuel or engine issues.
“The Report confirms that the aircraft undertook a periodic inspection as recently as the 6th of November 2017 and was certified fully fit to fly.
“Our maintenance program is conducted to the highest standard possible, going above and beyond both manufacturer and regulatory requirements, to the extent that our Beavers undergo a complete strip, repaint and rebuild every three years.”
Investigators also noted a scheduled engine change was performed on the vintage DHC-2 Beaver during the November 6 maintenance.
The replacement engine had recently been test run and inspected by a US maintenance organisation and had clocked up about 95 hours of service at the time it was fitted.
The ATSB said it had looked at a previous fatal accident involving the plane in 1996, noting it was subsequently repaired and issued with a Certificate of Airworthiness . It re-entered service in 2000 and was bought by Sydney Seaplanes in 2006.
The investigators have retained the engine and propeller as well as other components.
They are still looking at a number of areas including issues such as stall warning systems, aircraft performance and handling characteristics and similar accidents in Australia and overseas.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada recommended in September that stall warning devices be made mandatory for commercially operated DHC-2s in a report on a 2015 fatal crash in Quebec.
The crash killed six people, including a British family of four, and brought the number of Canadian DHC-2 accidents involving stalls to 13 since 1998.
Canadian investigators found the experienced pilot of the Quebec plane, who was also a DHC-2 instructor, did not notice the impending stall during a steep turn approximately 110 feet above ground level.
It also found the absence of an angle of attack indicator and a stall warning device deprived the pilot of a last line of defence against loss of control of the aircraft.
