Courier Mail 5/2/07
Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokeswoman Michelle Harris said the pilot reported engine problems to air traffic control just before the light, twin-engine Piper Cherokee descended rapidly into the ocean.
"The pilot attempted to land on the beach ," Ms Harris said.
Handing down his findings last year into a 2002 Piper Cherokee crash on Hamilton Island, which claimed six lives, state coroner Michael Barnes noted that the aircraft type had been involved in 134 accidents or serious incidents between 1969 and 2001, of which 46 involved fuel tank incidents.
