View Full Version : Crash nr. Lisbon - G. Mockridge
Does anybody have any details of a crash reported (in 2 paras) in last night's Evening Standard - of a light aircraft departing Cascais. Four dead, including one Jerseyman, and 2 Aussies, including Graeme Mockridge.
A lovely bloke, met him on last years' London-Sydney. The crew seem to have been involved in some round Europe tour organised by Rotary clubs.
RIP
Skua
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_2092000/2092021.stm
Konkordski
5th Jul 2002, 15:08
From the Courier Mail:
Gold Coast newsagent and leading amateur pilot, Graham Mockridge, 74, and his wife Josie were taking part in a Rotary Club aerial tour of Europe. Their aircraft crashed in the Sintra mountains, west of Lisbon. The British pilot, Graeme Lequesny of Jersey, and American tourist John Festi also were killed.
The crash happened soon after take-off.
The pilot of the plane, which was on its way to Portugal's second largest city, Oporto, contacted air traffic control 20 minutes after take-off to say he would be returning to the strip at Cascais due to the bad weather. There was no further contact.
Firefighters found the wreckage on a mountain road between Cascais and the capital Lisbon.
The Rotary group was travelling around Europe in 22 light planes.
Mr Mockridge was a well-known pilot and brother of famed cyclist Russell Mockridge, who was killed in a road accident at the height of his career in 1958.
In 2001 Mr Mockridge helped the Dreamtime indigenous team fly his Cessna 210 in a race from the UK to Australia -- the first such flight by indigenous pilots.
akerosid
5th Jul 2002, 16:28
The Jerseyman on board the aircraft (whom I believe was one of the pilots) was a highly respected pharmacist here and ran a pharmacy here in St. Helier; while I never had the pleasure of meeting him, by all accounts he was very well known and respected. The tragic story was on the front page of yesterday's Jersey Evening Post.
Mr. Le Quesne (pronounced "caine") was also President of the Jersey Rotary Club.
3forty
5th Jul 2002, 17:21
According to preliminary reports,the plane´s altimeter was found indicating 1500´. Minimum Safety Altitude in the area is 4000´.
The mountains around Sintra are,usually, covered by clouds,mainly in summer.Strong winds are also a feature of this area.Cascais airport - from where the plane took off - lies only a few miles to the south.
Lisbon control is equiped with SSR and there are a few NDB´s and VOR-dme´s in the region.There is also an Air Force base near Sintra.
Air Traffic Control is generally regarded as being quite good