From AAP:
"Wednesday February 22, 08:12 PM
Fatal crash pilot had a passion to fly
A rookie helicopter pilot who died with her three passengers in a crash in outback Queensland was a conscientious student with a passion for flying, her former instructor says.
Vita Stott, 28, from Scotland, and three male passengers died when the four-seater Robinson R44 helicopter crashed into a hill during an aerial surveying assignment near Mount Gordon, around 150km north of Mount Isa in the state's north-west, on Tuesday.
Ms Stott, a qualified pilot with North Australian Helicopters Pty Ltd, had been with the Northern Territory-based company for several months.
It was her first job since graduating from a year-long training course at the Sunshine Coast-based helicopter flying school, Becker Helicopters.
Managing director Jan Becker said the "vivacious" Ms Stott graduated last May before taking up the job in Mount Isa.
"It's just a tragedy. She was one in a million," Ms Becker said.
"She was a very, very conscientious pilot, really studied hard, was always well prepared.
"Her passion was to fly."
One of the male passengers was believed to be a 50-year-old Mount Isa-based surveyor.
The other two, aged 35 and 38, were from Brisbane. One was an employee of mining company CopperCo Limited.
The aircraft's wreckage was spotted by a search and rescue helicopter about 11.30am (AEST) Wednesday.
Ms Stott left Mount Isa airport about 6.30am Tuesday.
She made a refuelling stop at Mount Gordon, where she picked up the passengers to carry out a geological survey of the Mount Gordon and Mount Kelly areas.
The group was due to land at Mount Kelly at 4.15pm before returning to Mount Isa at 7.30pm.
The aircraft never arrived at Mount Kelly, but there were reports a helicopter was heard in the area about 4.15pm and around 5.15pm Tuesday.
Tracey Jiggins, spokeswoman for the national search and rescue organisation AusSAR, said it was unknown how or why the helicopter crashed.
Rugged, rocky terrain had made it difficult for rescue crews to reach the site.
"(It's) very inhospitable terrain and, in fact, very difficult to land any other helicopters in the area," she said.
"They've had to land a fair way away from the actual accident site.
"It would have taken them quite a bit of time to get in on foot from another location."
A spokesman for CopperCo, which lost an employee in the "tragic incident", said the crash occurred during a routine aerial survey assignment.
"This is a deeply distressing situation for all concerned and the company's thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of those involved," he said.
The missing helicopter was fitted with a crash-activated beacon, a hand-held beacon and a portable satellite telephone.
However, AusSAR said no emergency beacons had been detected.
Officers from the The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and the Disaster Victim Identification Squad are expected to arrive at the scene early Thursday.
"They will retrieve and identify the bodies, as well as begin the investigations into the cause of the crash," a police spokeswoman said.
State MP for Mount Isa and Queensland parliamentary Speaker Tony McGrady said the tragedy was expected to hit the mining town hard.
"The community are wanting information and the chances are the people involved would be known to a number of people," he told Channel Ten news.
North Australian Helicopters operates from three bases in the NT and one in Mount Isa, where helicopters are used daily by miners, farmers and tourists.
The company's fleet of 22 charter aircraft have been operating out of Mount Isa since 2001, carrying out charter, tourism and mustering work."
