Barry Uninski was cleared of blame by the Coroner in a finding at Maroochydore.
The Coroner was scathing of casa [again]
The Coroners brief was as follows:
1. The findings required by s. 45(2) of the Coroners Act 2003; namely the identity of the deceased person, when, where and how he died and what caused his death;
2. The adequacy of the maintenance, repairs and testing of the aircraft, which had been conducted prior to the deceased’s final test flight;
3. The adequacy of the weight/balance and ‘best glide / stall speed’ information provided to the deceased for the aircraft; and
4. Whether any recommendations can be made to reduce the likelihood of deaths occurring in similar circumstances or otherwise contribute to public health and safety or the administration of justice.
22-Oct-10 GYMPIE
The Gympie Times article reported on the accident.
Dead pilot cleared of blame by coroner
agorrie | 2nd Jan 2015 6:22 AM
AUSTRALIA'S air safety and crash investigation systems failed at almost every level when an innocent pilot was falsely blamed for a fatal Mary Valley plane crash, a Gympie Coroner has found.
Coroner Maxine Baldwin's findings, delivered in Maroochydore on Monday, were
scathing of processes adopted by authorities ranging from Gympie police to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
Mrs Baldwin found too many people had accepted the word of the aircraft's manufacturer, who had lied about its weight to minimise registration costs.
Police had relied too heavily on investigations by others, the coroner found. Those others had not carried out good enough investigations.
One of those who accepted the manufacturer's advice was an engineer who had modified the aircraft's balance without knowing its true weight - about 200kg more than that shown on registration documents.