There is only ONE person who will ever know exactly what went on after VH-BBI took off from Lake Evella on 4th February 2001. Unfortunately all the rest of us (the family, the friends, the “expert” eye witnesses and aviation experts) can do is merely speculate. The truth will never be known and no one will ever be certain why BBI crashed.
It is just tragic that it takes an event like this to happen, and the death of a young guy, to bring to light many issues concerning GA, ATSB and CASA. There is much to be said about the charter company involved with this accident. Their two pilot fatalities and few near misses in a short period of time are surely enough statistics to raise many safety concerns.
The fact that ATSB came to the decision not to attend the crash site only hours after the accident occurred has been reported as Australia's fastest air crash investigation in history. They had come to their conclusion not long after the family of the deceased had been notified, and before any police had even attended the scene.
SPLATR says that the Coroner should “realise that the ATSB does not work for them, and that they have a responsibility to conduct their own thorough investigation”. Given the fact that it takes many years for a Coronial Inquiry to be heard, who then is responsible for the initial investigation? It seems that no one wants the responsibility! I take my hat off to Sgt Burness of the NT Police for his investigative role in the crash of BBI. However it would have been more comforting for the police if they had had the support of the ATSB. They are the experts in this field aren’t they?
MAINFRAME refers to the Inquest and the fact that all parents want to do is blame everyone except their child for the crash . I am positive that ANY parent would want to find out WHY their child is no longer alive today. And if there is anything they can do to prevent other parents from going through the emotional torture they have been through, then of course they are going to pursue an inquest. If it saves another young pilots life and lifts the standards of General Aviation and the bodies who govern it, then surely their pursuit is only a positive one. Inevitably there is going to be emotion involved, they are human after all, and they have just lost a child. Also when there are so many unanswered questions surrounding the accident and if you were in the given situation then I am sure you would so the same.
STREWTH makes the point about what is a real senior pilot? Despite the fact that the pilot in question was known as senior base pilot at the Lake, all it was was merely a title. It came with it no extra pay or benefits, and definitely no extra respect from the company. He still lived in sub standard accommodation which believe it or not he had to pay rent to the company for. If it weren’t for the lucrative side business of selling cigarettes to the local community members, the Pilots at Lake Evella would not have survived financially. I guess young pilots are prepared to sacrifice living and working conditions momentarily until they have the opportunity to move onto bigger and better things. The company obviously knew that and took advantage of the situation. If these boys didn’t take the job, then the next guy waiting in line would have.
Mr Hat refers to the people who removed the deceased from the wreckage and suggested that viewing the carnage should be recommended viewing for “operators who have lost a grip on reality”. Perhaps the operators should have visited the site immediately after the accident, but the fact of the matter is they didn’t.
Perhaps they didn’t think it important?
Perhaps it would have cost too much money?
Perhaps it took too long to fly from Adelaide to the Lake?
Perhaps it was just all too much of an inconvenience. Just like it was too much of an inconvenience to collect the belongings of the deceased and return them to the family.
The Gapuwiyak community however were genuinely sincere and gave Rob a very moving send off where he was “loved out of the community” with a traditional Aboriginal Ceremony.
This writer only hopes these tragic circumstances never happen to YOU or anyone else that you know. I would never wish anyone the heartache of waiting two long years for an inquest, dealing with the system, or waiting for people to return phone calls and shuffle paper in order to get some answers and find out why it all occurred. I would never wish anyone the pain of watching their parents doing something they never envisaged doing in their lifetime, and that is to bury their own child.