The
ATSB Prelim report is out, and I don't know what to make of it...
For a flight from Casino to Warnervale, it almost looks like he was searching for somewhere specific on the ground south of Dungog, or trying to avoid weather, but the Maitland METAR indicated weather that was conductive to VFR flight, with the report noting "...
8 kt of wind with scattered cloud at 4,000 ft and 4,500 ft and overcast cloud at 7,800 ft above the airport. Witnesses reported the weather at the time and location of the accident to be a mid to high level overcast cloud with no rain. A retired airline pilot reported that the ’Weather was suitable for VFR. A general base layer at 5,000 ft. Scattered cloud with patches to the South" which tends to rule that out, and I cant understand the backtracking and violating the restricted area without a pretty damn good reason...
Clearing a ridgeline by only 200' then descending towards the Hunter River isn't indicative of the enroute portion of a flight with another 60 miles to run, but that's what the report indicates happened.
Idungeddit...
