PPRuNe Forums - Piper Cherokee ditches off Kingscliff (Merged)

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Comanchee ditches off Kingscliff (Merged)

7 News reporting a Piper Cherokee ditched approx 50m offshore just south of Kingscliff... 6 onboard, 2 did not survive resus attempts - fate of other 4 currently unknown

Condolences to the familes :(

EDITED to note that the above media report has now been proven to contain little fact, and to change aircraft type in thread title

Piper Cherokee ditching

Just on TV. Piper Cherokee down south of Tweed Heads. 6 POB. 2 deceased. Apparently was a ditching. Please feel free to correct me on any info as it comes to hand.
RIP.
:(

always going to end badly ditching a fixed gear aircraft. I assume it was a Cherokee 6?

Anyone know who the operator was?

Where do people get their info?

Channel Nine Brisbane reported a twin engine light aircraft, news.com.au reports only 1 POB.

PPrune reporting Cherokee and 6 POB with 2 deceased.

I'm confused. A factual event needs no false details. This may be a rumour network but this is not a rumour.

Facts only please.
:confused:

:ugh: :ugh: :ugh:

Merlins Magic,

Channel 7 news in Qld did report that a Piper Cherokee with 6 POB ditched 50 metres off shore. I believe the first two posters included that in their post, did they not? One witness that 7 interviewed also said there were problems with both engines. :confused:

I agree that facts only should be reported, however when different news agencies report different things, who are you to believe?

ABC web has a twin engine plane in their article...

It gets more bizzare...

From NineMSN this morning - not exactly a 'factual' report:

Girl watches man jump from doomed plane
Monday Feb 5 04:00 AEDT
By ninemsn staff

A 9-year-old girl has told police she saw a man jump out of a light plane to his death moments before the aircraft went down off the NSW north coast yesterday.

"I saw the plane go past and do a big circle and then someone jumped out before it crashed into the water," said Bobbi-Jay Fairlie, who was out walking her dog on Casuarina Beach at the time of the crash.

"I ran straight home real fast to tell my mum and dad. I was scared and sad."

Police believe the pilot was the only person on board when the plane crashed near Casuarina Beach at Kingscliff about 4.30pm (AEDT) Sunday, The Courier Mail reports.

One body, believed to be the pilot, has been recovered from the water, but a search was continuing in the area yesterday.

Bobby-Jay's father was among a group of Casuarina locals who swam out through rough surf looking for survivors after the crash.

"I swam past part of the wing — I could taste and smell the fuel in the water," Fairlie said.

Brent Lambert, another Casuarina resident, was eating dinner when he saw the plane "coming down over the trees at a 45-degree angle towards the ocean".

"It was coming down on a sharp angle. It was coming down hard and fast," Lambert told the Courier.

"We heard a massive splash and ran straight down here (to the beach) to look for survivors and wreckage. I rang Triple 0 and went straight into the ocean."

"We didn't see anyone but there was a lot of debris — all the seat covers and safety gear were scattered through the water."

Surf lifesavers on jetskis and rubber boats found wreckage and a body shortly after the plane went down.

Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokeswoman Michelle Harris said the pilot reported engine problems shortly before the light plane, which had taken off at Coolangatta Airport on the Gold Coast, plunged into the ocean.

Air crash investigators are expected on the scene this morning.

Condolences to the family.

Courier Mail 5/2/07

Quote:

Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokeswoman Michelle Harris said the pilot reported engine problems to air traffic control just before the light, twin-engine Piper Cherokee descended rapidly into the ocean.
"The pilot attempted to land on the beach ," Ms Harris said.

Quote:

Handing down his findings last year into a 2002 Piper Cherokee crash on Hamilton Island, which claimed six lives, state coroner Michael Barnes noted that the aircraft type had been involved in 134 accidents or serious incidents between 1969 and 2001, of which 46 involved fuel tank incidents.

:ugh: :ugh:

I think you'll find that the aircraft was a Twin Comanche, not a Cherokee 6 as reported by the newspapers.

Media coverage this morning seems to have decided that it was a Comanche flown by a 61 year old pilot.

VH-DIC was the rego I think.

From SMH this morning - www.smh.com.au

Quote:

Doomed plane 'diving really fast'
David Braithwaite
February 5, 2007 - 11:30AM
The pilot of a light plane had little chance to escape as it nosedived into the water off a Northern NSW beach yesterday, a witness to the crash says.
Brent Lambert said today that the engines of the Piper Twin Comanche plane were roaring before it crashed 200 metres in front of his Casuarina Beach home about 5.30pm.
"It was diving really fast. There was no chance of landing it," he said.
"It looked in a bit of a nosedive - the engines were going really loud; it wasn't like it glided in."
Witnesses told police the aircraft was flying low in a northerly direction when it crashed.
Rescuers recovered the male pilot's body from the water. He was the only person aboard the aircraft and police say he is likely to be identified today.
Mr Lambert was having dinner at his beachfront house when he heard the plane's engines.
"I thought that's a bit close to the house," he said.
"I looked out and the plane was coming in on a 45-degree angle straight into the ocean - it made a massive bang into the water."
After he phoned triple-0, Mr Lambert said he and other onlookers on the nearly deserted beach swam out to the submerged plane in the hope of rescuing any survivors.
"As soon as I got out there, I found the headrest to a seat and the petrol canister off the wing. There was a lot of safety gear around and fuel all through the water."
There was a strong rip in the surf at the crash site and the recovery of the body from near the plane indicated the pilot had not jumped, Mr Lambert said.
"It was diving that fast, I couldn't see how someone could get out of it," he said.
"It looked like it was going south to north, so I assume he was trying to land on the beach."
Air Transport Safety Bureau investigators would examine the crash site this afternoon, the bureau's deputy director aviation safety investigation, Julian Walsh, said.
The plane had taken off from Gold Coast Airport at Coolangatta and it was believed the pilot had reported engine problems, Mr Walsh said.
Witnesses to the crash can phone the bureau on 1800 020 616, he said.

J,

Sorry - I must be a bit thick, but I'm missing your point. :ugh:

Do I need to read beteeen the lines?

If you are suggesting the pilot radio'd an engine failure when that was not the case - what's your reasoning again?

(I hestitate to ask!)

Di :confused:

Thanks J,

I'll agree it was sad.

But I'm not sure I'd take much notice of a witness saying "the engines were going really loud" to draw any meaningful conclusions at this early stage.

I would not be suggesting what you appear to be suggesting.

Di :=

Yeah a witness saying the engines were going really loud could just mean he heard "an" engine running really loudly, almost as reliable as a journos report into the type of aircraft :ugh::}

Condolances to the pilots family and friends, terrible to see things like this happen in GA.

Turbz

So here we have a witness (the Casuarina Beach resident) to the accident who described what he saw as well as he was able. Not only was he a witness - he was one of several people who perhaps put their own safety at risk to attempt a rescue. I'd like to think I was as good a citizen as that guy.

I know his concern for others isn't being questioned here, but the thing is he had a decent crack at describing what he saw. Because someone isn't an aviation "expert" should their witness statements be ignored (or ridiculed in some cases) as being unreliable or ridiculous? What if this guy does in fact know a thing or two about aviation but doesn't feel the need to justify himself?

Admittedly some witness observations are farcical, but the real experts can sort through them and I suspect that from time to time analysis of witness statements have pointed investigations in the right direction, or at least offered confirmation of findings.

Well done to the witness and condolences to the pilot's loved ones..

dghob

dghob,

I'm not sure about Turbz, but the point I was making is that it's not reasonable to suggest the pilot committed suicide based on a witness saying "the engines were going really loud".

Even if the witness was the ultimate expert on the matter.

Di :}