View Full Version : Crash at El Questro
helimatt
30th Aug 2004, 05:48
This from news.com.au
Two feared dead in plane crash
August 30, 2004
TWO people are believed to have died when a light aircraft crashed at the end of the runway at the El Questro Wilderness Park in Western Australia's Kimberley region, WA Police said today.
A man and a woman were aboard the twin-engined plane when it crashed about 12.10pm (WST) today.
It is not as yet known whether the aircraft was taking off or landing when the accident occurred.
A WA Police spokesman told AAP that officers from Wyndham were on their way to the scene, and although police think they know who was on board, the identities of the people had not been confirmed.
"It is a twin-engined plane that has come down at the end of the airstrip, and it appears both people on board have died," the spokesman said.
El Questro is in the East Kimberley, 100km west of Kununurra by road. An exclusive homestead and wilderness park, the million-acre attraction was developed in 1991.
AAP
Hopefully the fears will be unfounded
If not, sincerest condolences to any involved
tipan13
30th Aug 2004, 06:16
Just heard news report that a C-421 has crashed at el questro whilst taking of or landing
2 dead
Any one know any more details
tipan13
30th Aug 2004, 06:35
It was a C-421 and it ended up on its back at the end of the strip. Been in there many a time and It can be a crappy strip when its hot a bumpy.
penash
30th Aug 2004, 08:35
TWO people are believed to have died when a light aircraft crashed at the end of the runway at the El Questro Wilderness Park in Western Australia's Kimberley region, WA Police said today.
A man and a woman were aboard the twin engined plane when it crashed at around 12.10pm (WST) today.
It is not as yet known whether the aircraft was taking off or landing when the accident occurred.
A WA Police spokesman told AAP that officers from Wyndham were on their way to the scene, and although police think they know who was on board, the identities of the people had not been confirmed.
"It is a twin-engined plane that has come down at the end of the airstrip, and it appears both people on board have died," the spokesman said.
El Questro is in the East Kimberley, 100km west of Kununurra by road. An exclusive homestead and wilderness park, the million acre attraction was developed in 1991.
GoNorth
30th Aug 2004, 08:46
was this a swiss rego one?
Eee Tee
30th Aug 2004, 08:58
ABC News:
Two overseas tourists have died after their light plane crashed at a luxury wilderness park in the far north of Western Australia.
The twin-engine plane is believed to have crashed just before the runway at the famous El Questro Wilderness Park, west of Kununurra.
The man and woman on board, aged in their late-50s, are believed to have been visiting from the United Kingdom.
The Fire and Emergency Service in the Kimberley says the plane crash has started a bushfire.
Regional spokesman Peter Cann says satellite imagery is being used to determine the extent of the fire in heavy scrub land covering the huge El Questro property.
Witnesses on the ground have told authorities the Cessna 421 appeared to be experiencing engine problems.
Police spokeswoman Jodie Di Lallo says their next of kin are being informed.
"We believe when the plane has crashed it has caused a fire and the people inside have been incinerated," she said.
The tourists were the sole occupants of the aircraft, which was owned by the couple.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and the Air Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) will investigate the accident.
Four air safety experts from Canberra are expected to arrive at the park tomorrow.
A spokesman for the ATSB says it could take up to a week to determine the cause of the crash.
A spokesman for the El Questro Wilderness Park resort, Peter Hook, says the names of the couple are being withheld.
"The two people believed to have died are foreign tourists to Australia who flew in from Europe," he said.
"Unfortunately, obviously, we can't mention names until they've been identified and their relatives notified.
"But at the moment it does appear that they were foreign tourists and they were guests at the El Questro resort."
i was thinkin that HB - LRW parked at broome for a week or so.
Doesn't sound good
Icarus2001
30th Aug 2004, 09:28
Four air safety experts from Canberra are expected to arrive at the park tomorrow. .....A spokesman for the ATSB says it could take up to a week to determine the cause of the crash.
Four staff for a week in El Questro. mmmmmmmm That is 160 manhours just for the on site investigation. I suspect that had the crash been at Wiluna, Derby or any other less glamorous locale they may have been less anxious to send four staff on a junket to El Questro!
the wizard of auz
30th Aug 2004, 09:32
I was just thinking that same thing, Icarus.
Time Out
30th Aug 2004, 09:59
Tourist couple killed in plane crash
TWO tourists were killed today when a light plane crashed in a ball of flame at an exclusive wilderness resort in far north Western Australia.
The twin-engine Cessna 421 had just taken off from the El Questro resort about 12.10pm (WST) today when witnesses spotted problems with the left engine and the aircraft attempted to return to the runway.
The plane caught fire when it crashed, killing the two people aboard, WA Police said.
A spokesman for the resort in WA's rugged Kimberley region said the man and woman on board, who were aged in their 50s and believed to be from the UK, were the owners of the plane that crashed.
Four investigators from the Air Transport Safety Bureau will lead the probe into the crash. They left Canberra today and are expected to begin their inquiries tomorrow.
Peter Hook of resort operators Accor said the names of the dead couple would not be released today, as relatives in Europe had not yet been informed of the tragedy, and the bodies had yet to be formally identified.
"The owners and managers of the resort said it was a tragic accident and extended their sympathies to the relatives of the deceased," Mr Hook said.
"We believe they had taken off, and were attempting to come back to the ground when they crashed. It does look like there were engine problems that caused them to try and return.
"The two people believed to have died are foreign tourists to Australia who flew in from Europe. Unfortunately, obviously, we can't mention names until they've been identified and their relatives notified."
An ATSB spokesman said the plane was registered in Switzerland, and European air safety officials – as well as representatives of the manufacturers – could become involved in the crash inquiry.
source (http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,10615389%255E1702,00.html)
slice
30th Aug 2004, 17:27
El Questro is a shyte strip (or was 3 years ago). Very sandy and uneven and not particularly long ~ 900 m. Bad enough for the small wheels of a 210 and the company wanted to take a 402 in and out (pharkorfff I said)! Close terrain as well.
tipan13
30th Aug 2004, 23:02
Yeah the the strip is average. It seems long enough, I have seen 404.s , Pa-31 and kingairs in there. It feels very narrow with terrain either side of the stip and trees at either end. with the dry SE winds blowing pleanty of down draughts occur.
I just supprised that nothing has ever happened at Emma Gorge
SkySista
31st Aug 2004, 05:44
was this a swiss rego one?
According to West Australian this morning, it was a Swiss aircraft flown here by the couple. Apparently ATSB has invited Swiss investigators to participate in the investigations.
Condolences to family :(
Sky
Sorry for the people involved and their families
But people stop trying to blame the strip it was pilot error.
Anybody think of the trauma that the rescue crews and their families have to deal with.
Not something that pops into your head when you are playing silly buggers in the sky.
Guys,
Be a little sensitive, families of these people live in Australia, stick to the facts, not alledged pilot error.
:*
Capt Claret
31st Aug 2004, 13:57
cdf
I'm surprised at how quickly the ATSB has determined the accident cause and that you have their blessing to post it here. :rolleyes:
You are a member of the ATSB Aircrash Investigation team aren't you? :zzz:
itchybum
31st Aug 2004, 15:52
any other less glamorous locale they may have been less anxious to send four staff on a junket to El Questro! Are you suggesting the team is kicking back after work by the pool having a good time? I hardly reckon. Anyone who's been to a fatal crash site could tell you it tends to put a bit of a dampener on things.
Bit of a rough comment there, guys.
Sincere condolences to the bereaved.
D.Lamination
31st Aug 2004, 23:47
Would this be the unfortunate aircraft?
Click here! (http://www.airliners.net/open.file/543200/M/)
looks like it had a fowler flap mod. It has a serial no. less than 800 by the look of the gear.
Condolences to all concerned - terrible end to what sounds like the holiday of a lifetime.
Edit by this W to provide a more user friendly link to the photo, one that doesn't corrupt the page display.
InTransit
1st Sep 2004, 01:01
cdf
You've got to be kidding...right?!? Until the final report comes out, and the ATSB have come to their conclusions, there is NO way you can say that the couple were playing "silly buggers", or that it was in any way, "pilot error."
ANYONE involved, including the investigators and their families, will be going through a traumatic experience...but don't try and shift focus by placing blame. Pull your head out of the sand...
SkySista
1st Sep 2004, 02:58
Never ceases to amaze me how quickly some people will squeal pilot error. How the hell does anyone know at this point??? It may or may not be, but let's wait for the official word.
I've been there - the last thing the families need is people placing blame on the deceased -who is not here to defend himself. So have some decency and shut the hell up. :*
Sky
Get some and come back to us...............
In regard to the airstrip, I was there two weeks ago.
A 1400m long runway, 18m wide and fenced. The effective length is about 1200m due to obstacles at either end.
The strip does not meet the RFDS basic requirements because the distance between the side fences is only 30m. There should be a runway 15m wide with a surrounding area suitable to taxi over without damage and a futher 15m followed by a fly over area of 7.5m.
In addition the runway is off centre. ie the centre line is 10m from the northern fence and 20m from the southern side. That would put a C421 wing tip about 3m from the fence.
We walked the strip and threw dozens of rocks ( some very sharp ) off the strip however once you were about 150m from either end the strip surface was quite good. The rough area was due to power application prop blast for take off.
The windsock at the north western corner is right by the threshold and infringes the approach path.
The terrain around the airstrip, while hilly, was ok. They use right hand circuits landing to the east.
Management informed us that there had been a Lear Jet there recently. If this was true I would be very surprised. I don't think the Management realise the danger in what they are saying.
These are the airstrip details. They may have nothing to do with the accident.
I am amazed that the local charter companies go in and out daily knowing that the strip does not meet basic requirements. Where is their safety management?
justathought
2nd Sep 2004, 03:21
RSO, that strip is quite nice (especially the length) compared to some of the strips to the south and east of Darwin that all the DN operators go into regularly. I'm not saying that they should or shouldnt, just pointing out that their "safety management" normally goes along the lines of " if you can clear the trees with both donks going, it's good."
drshmoo
3rd Sep 2004, 06:42
If the strip doesnt meet requirements then would these companies be insured if something untoward occurred?
ettore
3rd Sep 2004, 09:32
The crash has been notified to the Swiss Civil Aviation Authority (http://www.bfu.admin.ch/common/pdf/HB-LRW) and the entry has been deleted from the Swiss immatriculation registry since the aircraft has been destroyed. It was still registered two days ago and showed the following:
HB-LRW; Type CE 421C; Year of construction 1979; S/N 421C0633, Seats: 8
The owner was a construction entrepreneur in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. I'm not naming him, since I don't know if he was flying the plane on that day.
Whoever were the victims, may they rest in peace.
compressor stall
3rd Sep 2004, 10:42
And the minimum strip requirements are? :hmm:
Tinstaafl
3rd Sep 2004, 12:56
As Stallie says. There's a world of differences between:
* Regulatory requirements
* CASA recommendations ie CAAP xyz about ALAs
* operator chosen limits
Assuming you are operating something larger than a Baron I have found that by using the RFDS minimum requirements when discussing ALA's on properties you get the best reponse from the Owners. They are unlikely to dismiss the RFDS as a creditable source.
You have got to start somewhere.
Having said all that we do go into strips that don't meet the RFDS standards but they are generally close. They don't have a fence a couple metres off the wing tip and a wind sock in the way.
El Questro is a icon type location attracting a wide variation of aircraft, the public and every chance that the RFSD may need to go there so you would expect it to be of a higher standard.
Don't forget the Manager thinks its ok for a Lear Jet.
Of course "safety management" is what you make of it.