I've said it before and will no doubt have to say it again a couple of times before I check out; "Bloody aeroplanes, love them dearly, but they cause a fair share of my heartache too". I too lost my original PPL instructor and latterly good friend, arriving on the beach just after he'd gone in on backline. Have to say I don't recall instructing the rest of the world on how they had to think and behave in the immediate aftermath, but perhaps time has added a layer of courtesy to my memory.
Both this one and the recent Inverell 210 really hit home for me, involving people who on the face of it were acting quite reasonably and going about their recreation and aviation business. It's easier to exclude those who poke their noses into grim weather or IMC - as in "yes but I'd never do that".
Often said that there aren't any new ways to write yourself off in an aircraft, so that really leaves; the builder, the designer, the pilot or some outside agency - like a bird. I hope they find the cause, although sadly the longer the search takes, the less likely they are to find all the bits, including that reputed to have fallen off beforehand. Anyone know the source of that report ie. kid on the beach or someone who had may have had an understanding of what they were seeing?