This one is a bit unusual, but he was a professional pilot:
AN experienced waterbombing pilot killed when his plane crashed fighting bushfires was taunted before take-off for voicing his reluctance to fly in poor weather, a parliamentary committee has been told.
David Black, 43, was killed when his fixed-wing Dromader aircraft crashed in Budawang National Park on NSW's south coast on October 24.
"I'm disgusted as I'm informed that on that day it was pretty rugged weather and ... (pilots) were taunted by the Rural Fire Service because these guys didn't particularly want to fly," Liberal senator Bill Heffernan told a Senate hearing into operations of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
The NSW senator said another pilot reported that Mr Black was told "real men and real pilots would be up there".
Witnesses saw a wing snap off Mr Black's aircraft before it plummeted to the ground.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the crash.
Source:
| The Australian