My Grandfather was an airframe rigger on Tiger Moths at Temora during the earlier war years. He doesn't have a lot of praise for them and honestly can't believe that they are still flying around the place.

I do not wish to disparage the operator or the victims of this accident but one does have to wonder about the wisdom of using ancient wood and wire flying machines in the commercial world of today... Having said that, I hate the thought of yet another restrictive rule being introduce to spoil legitimate fun and enjoyment of aviation. Unfortunately there are always risks involved in this business and someone, sometime inevitably pays the ultimate price...

My thoughts are with the families of those involved in this tragedy and I hope more definitive answers will be forthcoming compared to other recent historical aircraft crashes...

To some here who 'seem to know better'.....

I am the proud owner and operator of a DH-82A Tiger Moth aircraft, which has a plate on the side stating
Date of Manufacture May 1942.

I can assure you all that the ONLY part of that aircraft made in 1942, is THAT plate.

The rest is quite 'modern' in manufacture and covering.....

A LOT like 'Grandad's favourite axe'....four new handles & three new heads...but....still 'Grandad's favourite axe'.....

I will await the outcome of this enquiry, as I have a few questions in my head as well.
e.g. The 'Vertical dive' at 'high speed'....If I take my hands off the control column in this situation, the aircraft simply recovers from the ensuing dive.

So, the 'GoPro' may well provide a clue.

'Tis a sad occasion.
Enough said.

Well if this was in NSW the NSW Police Aviation investigator would have every diver scouring the sea floor looking for that go pro before it disappears for good. He has done this several times and with success.

If the Hemple accident is anything to go by I suggest we will not see it recovered. Lack of significant action quickly.

The Qld Police has recovered the GoPro according to Ch9 news...

Griffo, my Tiger is a complete rebuild same as yours, and the only original part is the pilots ( rear ) seat, but the rest was new via Challinor's.
and yes, mine is as yours..put into a dive and it will tend to recover on its own.

Have some of the online "experts" checked to see that there has been several AD's regarding wing spars and flying wires over the past few years, and that the Tigers you see flying around here in SE Qld, are very well maintained.
Just like G'pa's axe.

Jabba, hopefully they do raise it, as it may reveal something , but as you said its Qld and not NSW.

Maybe the Go-pro, if that rumour is correct, will reveal something, and if it does, I hope for the sake of the families , certain parts, for obvious reasons, are never made public domain.

Also just wonder with him being over the beach, did the lad collect a seagull or pelican on the wing strut ? but the witness didnt seem to suggest that it was in pieces coming down.
I do have another theory involving a stopped prop, and other Tiger pilots could guess what Im thinking.

But most important ,are thoughts to the families who have lost loved ones, especially this time of year.

That is good news at least for investigative purposes.

Maybe there was something learned after the yak. :sad:

My condolences to the family of those on board.

It will be interesting to see if the airframe is recovered by the ATSB or Qld Police and, if so, what ramifications would that have following the non-recovery of the Hempel Yak

Tiger down off Straddie
 

Some observations:
- there has been no indication as to the cause of this terrible accident, so why speculate as to the cause? It just has potential to upset the family / friends of the deceased and feed the media machine.
- I would aerobat an aircraft with timber spars before one of any other material (timber doesn't fatigue)
- "rag and tube" aircraft are stripped back to bare bones periodically (when re-covered). This doesn't happen to other construction types.
- the DH 82A was never approved to do "flick manoeuvres", however I have seen more than one flight manual with the statement "flick manoeuvres are permitted" - an omission of the word "not" was made. I have observed a DH 82A performing flick manoeuvres and when brought to the attention of the operator was told to mind my own business. I don't believe the ASIR I submitted resulted in any action.

As suggested in pervious posts, the GoPro should shed some light on what happened. This won't help the families / friends of the deceased with their losses. However, it may help prevent a re-occurrence of a similar incident.

Hi Mr 'arawa',

I could have said a lot more, but then I normally don't feed the 'ignorant trolls' who just sprout crap & like to see their name on the site.

I would think that EVERY DH-82A on the register has been 'rebuilt' - most of them more than once - and the 'old' problems of delaminating spars etc, are way behind us, one would hope!

Your suggestion is one of my thoughts also....

However, I'll leave all of that conjecture / speculation until more facts come to light.

And, if the go-pro is situated at the same site as in the 'Promo's', and intact, then there well might be an answer....

With respect,
Griffo

NSW Police also have the best (computer) media forensics people in the country. If there's footage to be recovered from a submerged GoPro they'd also be the ones to do it :ok:

Indeed you are right bankrunner. Makes me think you and I have a common friend ;)

Have to agree there, the NSW investigator knows his stuff.

I heard that there was actually two GoPro's on the machine, with only one found thus far, and intact. The ATSB will use the footage if it is salvageable, but that will remain privvy to them and the Coroner, as far as viewing it goes. Anything beyond that is tantamount to walking over the graves of the dead.
I know this is an emotive topic, but under what I would call normal circumstances (circumstances that some bloggers on here are referring to), these machines are well loved, well cared for and very well maintained. I have lost count of the passenger trips I have taken in them all over the world, and I have no fear of the craft when it is in the hands of a capable pilot and it has been nurtured with the kind of TLC normally associated with said aircraft type.
I have seen Dash 8's and Metro 3's, still flying, in frightening and appalling condition. Give me a TM over them any day.

R.I.P

Tiger Moth crash in Australia
 

Just seen this.

GoPro video camera recovered by police from Tiger Moth crash site - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Because you have a Moth that has speared into the water leaving almost no tangible pieces in tact, and most importantly, because internet.

Hopefully the waterproof gopro box doors were used... I'm not sure if the footage could be recoverable otherwise?

While the card itself might be unusable due to salt water destroying the tracks on the circuit board inside, the chips themselves reside in sealed airtight packages. They have a pretty good chance of surviving at least a short time in the drink.

As long as the leads on the chips aren't too seriously damaged, if you were to transplant the chips (flash IC(s) + controller) onto a new board in a new card, you'd have a fair chance of recovering the footage.

Thats interesting, thanks.

The Gopro camera would have used an SD or micro-SD card to store the video.

I've seen SD cards that were immersed in water for two months or have fallen off the wrists of sky divers come up good.

The basis answer is that the GoPro camera memory is probably good and able to be recovered.

There is no indication of what model of Gopro cameras were used. There may be additional information, such as GPS history, on the cards.

GoPro's don't have GPS so no hope there. If it was in the standard waterproof holder it probably survived in tact.

its not about the camera surviving, which is unlikely, its about the SD card surviving, which has a very good chance, even under water for some time