Cessna Wreckage Found Near Coonabarabran NSW

[Ovation]

From News Ltd Breaking News 6:45pm 04/06/2012


A RESCUE chopper has found wreckage in northwestern New South Wales in an area where it was looking for a missing light plane.
A spokeswoman for Australian Search and Rescue (AusSAR) said reports from air observations of the wreckage indicated the crash was not survivable.

A search for the missing plane, with a lone pilot aboard, was launched today after AusSAR received a report just after midday of a Cessna 182 overdue at its destination.

The plane had left Walgett en route to Mudgee. Police were on their way to the scene of the wreckage, the spokeswoman said.

A NSW police spokesman said a helicopter located the wreckage at Mt Exmouth near Coonabarabran. The Westpac Rescue helicopter spotted the wreckage after being alerted to the missing plane at 1.30pm (AEST).

"Our crew located the accident scene and advised there appeared to be no survivors," rescue helicopter spokesman Barry Walton told AAP.

[Horatio Leafblower]

Rocked into Mudgee this morning about midday. As the pax were loading a bloke came up and asked me if I had heard any other aircraft, he was supposed to pick up a bloke from Walgett at 11am.

I looked to the NW and the cloud was heavy and low.

As I pressed for details, it seemed the pilot had spoken to him or texted him from overhead Coonamble at 10am, and the GPS said ETA Mudgee at 11:01.

I figured he'd probably diverted due wx and would have cancelled SAR. I called AusSAR and they had no flight plan, no sartime, no details of any sort. Old mate at Mudgee said the pilot's mobile phone kept ringing out. I had to go, I left them with it.

About 3 hours later I flew into Mudgee again and heard the Dornier and the rescue helo working around Tooraweena. The cloud base was 7,000' and vis was a million miles. When I departed and got above the clouds I had the last of the sun setting on my left and the full moon rising on the right, 25 kts behind me and the clouds skimming just below at 200kts.

I have no idea who the pilot was, or how much flying he has done, or what was so important at Mudgee this morning that he lost his life trying to get there.

As I sat at 8000 and watched the last rays of the afternoon glowing around me, I thought about the missing pilot and the beautiful things we get to see from the air. If he had delayed by a couple of hours, we would have one less thread on PPRuNe and a family untouched by tragedy.

Flying's not about being brave - it's about being certain. :(


-------------------------

Postscript: I kissed my sleeping daughters when I got home tonight. While I was talking to my wife about this over a glass of wine (another of life's simple pleasures) one of the pilots mates called me, at home, and thanked me for calling AusSAR because he and his mate's wife had no idea where to start or who to call.

We have produced a contact/panic list for all our pilots (and their wives) so they know who to call, when, in an escalating period of uncertainty. PLEASE take the time to ensure people know where to look for you or who to call if they can't look for themselves. :(

[TukTuk BoomBoom]

Wow, well said.
Thats one of the best posts I've ever read on this forum.
Those last paragraphs should be required reading before flight.
Having almost been a victim of some poor weather related calls of my own those words ring true.
Thanks.

[Jack Ranga]

Read 'Fate is the Hunter' by Earnest Gaan.

I wish I had at the beginning of my career.

[The Green Goblin]

Hear hear.

All the young blokes particularly the PPL crowd should read that.

I vote for a sticky and every aero club to print and paste on their flight planning room walls.

[Avgas172]

How very sad, well said That man. :{

[metalman2]

I don't post here often, Horatio ,thanks for that ,its a very sobering post!

[Howard Hughes]

That is the most eloquent post I have ever read on PPRuNe Horatio, great stuff! :ok:

I flew out of Mudgee pre-dawn that morning, if the weather that existed at the time was still around later in the morning, I'm not surprised we are commenting on yet another accident thread. :(

[Jetjr]

I know the families
Well known and respected, farmers around Walgett, 3 (or 4) small kids
Sad day

[Pinky the pilot]

Well put Horatio.:ok:

I do not intend to speculate but I cannot help but recall the final paragraph of many weather related accident reports printed in the old Aviation Safety Digest on these sorts of events.

Those who remember that former journal will know of the words to which I refer.:sad:

Please everyone, fly safe!

[flywatcher]

Has the name of the pilot been released yet?

[Greedo]

I was asked to put a call out for this aircraft about 1300. As I handed over to the next guy a short time later, I hoped that I wouldn't have to hear how it worked out on the news.......unfortunately that proved very sadly not to be the case. A first for me after 10 years. I hope is my last.

I'm not sure what help I would have been able to provide if he had of called up and asked for it, as I don't have much radar coverage a low levels in that area. I'd like to think that I could have been able to help in some capacity though.

To all those VFR guys out there not squawking and not talking, remember that if you need help, please speak up. Please.

[bentleg]

http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/4107100/ao-2012-076_final.pdf

Although he was scud running it is rather sad that he did not foresee the high ground looming in front, which a slight diversion would have avoided.

[Wally Mk2]

Please guys & guyetts read this final report as if it was yr brother.
This need not have happened (obviously) & it's just a crying shame that we humans never learn from others mistakes.

Know yr own limits, know yr plane & know when enuf is enuf. IMC is a real challenge & if done correctly/legally is a sense of achievement but VMC & IMC together are like two school kids having a scrap, someone's gunna come out with a blood nose!

Stay alert & as the saying goes if it don't feel right it AIN'T!

Wmk2

[Jack Ranga]

Once again Wal, there's a lot to be learned from this one. It's been e-mailed to all my students. It's human nature that this WILL happen again. If we can stop just one of these incidents from happening, it's worth discussing.

[VH-XXX]

I was taught early in my training, if the cloud is at 1,000ft, fly at 500ft in a challenging situation such as this. Don't fly right at the base of the clouds just because it might feel right at the time. Same goes if the cloud is at 600 ft, fly at 300 ft, give yourself options and there's always the "stress of weather" out.

Give yourself options, fly lower, slow down and look around and well into the distance in all directions.

[john_tullamarine]

.. and if you can't see some blue (or grey) sky beyond the cloud .. give it away and go to Plan B.

[bentleg]

Have a look at the direct track Walgett to Mudgee on the charts. He came to grief 10 miles north of Tooraweenah.

If he had been tracking his position on a chart, he would seen the high ground coming up, with low ground available if he diverted west of track.

[Capt Fathom]

And that can be an issue these days. A lack of preflight planning, or thorough planning.

It was so easy when FSUs were around. Now, modern technology has made it self service.

Quick look outside.. No need for weather or notams. Once airborne, hit the direct-to button, and bob's your uncle.:ok:

A general observation only. I'm not referring to this accident.

I'm sure flying schools are doing the right thing. But once out on their own, and away from that environment, the discipline wanes for some.

[Jack Ranga]

The last two posts had to be brought up, it is a massive factor in this accident. Like I said in another thread, training organisations will have to come to grips with GPS & the human factor, sad accident.

[Delta_Foxtrot]

Horatio, very well said.

[Centaurus]

That type of accident report is depressingly familiar in Australia. The two pictures in the ATSB report show the weather in the vicinity at the time of the accident and the same area next day when the weather was fine.

In a recent thread made on Pprune after a similar accident, a writer made the sober observation that the weather is invariably fine the next day at the site of VFR into IMC accident. The two photos published in the ATSB report bears that out. In fact the two photos would be a basis for a telling flight safety article in FSA illustrating the dangers of press-home-itis.

The ATSB report also said:
"The maintenance release was destroyed by the post-impact fire. The pilot who flew the previous flight in the aircraft reported the aircraft had been fully serviceable at that time. The maintenance organisation for the aircraft was not aware of any outstanding defects on the aircraft."

One could be forgiven for thinking that ATSB have that sentence permanently on file so they can cut and paste it into the majority of accidents where the aircraft is destroyed by fire.

I recall many years ago at a Coroners Inquest into a fatal aircraft accident, when a representative of the maintenance organisation claimed he was unaware of any defects on the crashed aircraft. That may have been quite true. However, anecdotal evidence from company pilots painted a far different story.

CASA require the original of the maintenance release be carried in the aircraft on all flights. While in this case the cause of the accident is clear, there have been instances where anecdotal evidence reveals there were defects being carried between inspections that could have had a bearing on the cause of a crash.

If a duplicate copy of the MR was left at each port of departure it would at least make the investigators job easier if the original was destroyed. When this idea was floated to CASA some years back, it was rejected. Of course some aircraft owners may prefer to keep their MR squeaky clean of defects (and thus disguise them from an unexpected on the spot CASA audit) and only write them up on the last flight before the scheduled maintenance is due.

[Aussie Bob]

If a duplicate copy of the MR was left at each port of departure

Struth Centauris, I mean really? Words fail me, like you want me to carry photocopies and leave them where? My bet would be that there has hardly ever or even never been an endorsement on an MR in a lightie that was a contributing factor in a prang.

[SgtBundy]

Why not an web/mobile based online MR sheet updated at start of day at least, coverage permitting, otherwise at first possible location. Its a fairly simple form, it really could not be that hard to make a system for it.

I am sure there are big brother implications for such a setup though.

[Horatio Leafblower]

If a duplicate copy of the MR was left at each port of departure it would at least make the investigators job easier

Oh that's brilliant.

We do regular contract runs with 6-7 sectors per day. Would you really have me carry photocopies? Or maybe a photo copier?

Will we just jam the increasingly thick bundle of paper into the airport fence or under the terminal door with the grass clipping, spiders and crickets?

Some genius in CASA will read your post and think it's a good idea and hey presto we'll have another stupid paperwork burden for "safety" reasons and anyone who thinks its stupid will be re-educated or have their licence or AOC cancelled because they're obviously not interested in safety as if carrying 10 copies of the MR will actually do anything at all to enhance the actual safety of anybody on board a real aearoplane.

Oh, and if you depart on your last leg home without leaving a copy of your MR behind because you have already used them all up on the last 11 sectors, it will be an offence of strict liability.

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: :mad:

[Wally Mk2]

Relax 'HL' I doubt very much it will come to that as it's not enforceable (well without going to a huge amount of trouble) therefore would create more problems than it's worth even for CASA.
Besides what if someone wrote up a snag half way thru a few sectors (which is not really done anyway)then any 'copies' being left behind would have to be hand amended then the legalities of it all would be out of control.
I think it's generally accepted even by CASA that an MR is a legal document that may not reflect the true state of an airframes serviceability at any particular time.

Am sure it was just a thought that was made ref from some other source.

Wmk2