I seem to recall a Mooney was refused permission coastal at night through Willy airspace, lost a prop and the pilot died in the forced landing. Nothing new here.
I knew the pilot of MDX and flew with him a few times. He was a navigator retrained as a pilot. Yes he wasn't the most confident or able of pilots and not the sort of guy who would over rule a controller. (I well recall landing at Willy without permission one dark and stormy while the civil controller was busy warning me that "I couldnt land without prior permission". The RAAF could not have been more understanding about it all. But that's me, and indeed that's most of us here. It wasn't the pilot of MDX.)
Yes he could have done many things better. However it is not often mentioned that he, as I recall from the time, asked to flight plan down the coast at the planning stage and was told to "ask for clearance at Taree". That would, as I recall from a short time ago, still be the case today.
Yes many factors contributed, but if the system had hadn't sent a single engine NVMC aircraft out over that country in that weather I believe that the accident would not have happened.
That is Dick's point and I agree with him.
Last edited by Bill Pike; 2nd Jun 2014 at 04:19.
Reason: Clarity