Light Aircraft mayday Moreton Island

[spinex]

This strikes me as a slightly odd one. Had it been a simple engine failure beyond gliding distance of land, I'd have expected a bit more than the terse, but certainly not panicked Mayday issued by the pilot. I know I'd want to let atc know exactly what was happening in the hope that someone would come fish me out of Moreton Bay asap. At usual bay crossing height, they would have had several minutes glide time to get the message out. I guess the apparent high speed impact could be put down to a ditching gone awry, but even that seems like a stretch, other Cessna singles that have gone in (eg. off Byron and Storm Bay) haven't disintergrated to the extent that this one is supposed to have.