helo1
7th Dec 2007, 02:54
An "icon" crop-dusting pilot is believed to have died after his plane
crashed into a lake in NSW today.
The yellow plane had been scooping water from Lake Liddel near the New
England Highway near Muswellbrook about 9.30am when it crashed into the
lake, said Harley McKillop from Pay's Air Service.
"What can I tell you - we've crashed into Lake Liddel ... the pilot's in the
wreckage and they haven't retrieved the pilot or the wreckage [from the
lake],'' Mr McKillop said.
"This is a huge loss for us - it's our livelihood.''
Despite earlier reports that there had been up to three people in the plane,
Mr McKillop said only the pilot had been aboard the plane when it crashed.
The plane, an Airtractor AT-802, can only fit one person, he said.
The company, which operates a fire-bombing service, had been testing new
equipment when the crash occurred, Mr McKillop said.
However, it was not yet clear whether the equipment being tested had
contributed to the crash, he said.
Staff from the company had been at ground-level at the lake when the plane
crashed, Mr McKillop said.
They rang triple-000 as soon as the crash occurred, he said.
Scone Aero Club president Neville Partridge said the pilot of the doomed
plane was Col Pay, an experienced pilot and crop-duster from Scone.
"He's an absolute icon in the crop-dusting industry,'' he said.
"He's got a squillion hours up - he's been doing it for so long.
"We're all pretty shattered.''
Mr Pay was also one of the country's best known collectors of warbirds, he
said.
He had once owned the only flying Spitfire in Australia, as well as a
Mustang, Tiger Moth and a Kittyhawk.
He was well-known for flying the warbirds at airshows, including his
home-town's Scone Airshow.
A Westpac rescue helicopter has flown to the crash site from Newcastle, and
police and ambulance crews were already in attendance.
crashed into a lake in NSW today.
The yellow plane had been scooping water from Lake Liddel near the New
England Highway near Muswellbrook about 9.30am when it crashed into the
lake, said Harley McKillop from Pay's Air Service.
"What can I tell you - we've crashed into Lake Liddel ... the pilot's in the
wreckage and they haven't retrieved the pilot or the wreckage [from the
lake],'' Mr McKillop said.
"This is a huge loss for us - it's our livelihood.''
Despite earlier reports that there had been up to three people in the plane,
Mr McKillop said only the pilot had been aboard the plane when it crashed.
The plane, an Airtractor AT-802, can only fit one person, he said.
The company, which operates a fire-bombing service, had been testing new
equipment when the crash occurred, Mr McKillop said.
However, it was not yet clear whether the equipment being tested had
contributed to the crash, he said.
Staff from the company had been at ground-level at the lake when the plane
crashed, Mr McKillop said.
They rang triple-000 as soon as the crash occurred, he said.
Scone Aero Club president Neville Partridge said the pilot of the doomed
plane was Col Pay, an experienced pilot and crop-duster from Scone.
"He's an absolute icon in the crop-dusting industry,'' he said.
"He's got a squillion hours up - he's been doing it for so long.
"We're all pretty shattered.''
Mr Pay was also one of the country's best known collectors of warbirds, he
said.
He had once owned the only flying Spitfire in Australia, as well as a
Mustang, Tiger Moth and a Kittyhawk.
He was well-known for flying the warbirds at airshows, including his
home-town's Scone Airshow.
A Westpac rescue helicopter has flown to the crash site from Newcastle, and
police and ambulance crews were already in attendance.