One down at Mareeba
 

11.15 qld time. Angel bush a/c twin pusher crashed just after take off. Being a noisy thing ...here comes the Angel !!... I watched it lift off . Rate of climb was very shallow, and with the gear still down it turned right at about 100 ft. Didnt sound like full power on both either
As soon as it started to turn right , down wind, again at a very low speed...the outcome was obvious. I called out 'level up, level up.!'.just land straight ahead .but the pilot never heard me. The right wing went down, the turn tightened into the vertical and nose and right wing first bit the dust in a cornfield 1/2 k north from the strip.
Pleased to see NO smoke, No fire
Triple zero rang out, flooded with other callers no doubt and Ambos were quick on the scene.
Wx 38C wind .10 kt westerly. Elev 1560 ft... And the dernsity altitude is?? ( abt 4500 at a rough guess)
EMS helicopter from CNS has just arrived and landed on the road by the cornfield. 12.10
State of the pilot and any pax...I guess it will all be in the media tonight.
Bugger.

Very sad!


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VH-IAZ, registered to AZUL Aviation at Cooktown, Qld, since Mar 2019.
Been in Australia since 2010.
Has worn many registrations over the years in Australia.

So he was taking off to the north, with a westerly crosswind, turned right at 100ft towards all those big powerlines?

I find it strange they were possibly attempting a field return at such height, when they were taking off in the direction of large fields straight ahead or banana fields which are great for landing on. The other direction is quite the opposite as many know.

The local operators don’t usually fly training in Cairns after 11 due density height.

Do they sell JetA1 at YMBA?

Yes they do sell Jet-A1 and Avgas from self help fixed installations. So lets not go down that track! Separate installations.

And why stop training after 11:00am? there are higher airstrips in the world with great density heights. The Aero Club may not have much trade after 11am simply because their 'trade' is all working a regular job. I can't image MAF not training after all their PNG Ops and other countries as well are all DH challenging. PoppaJo, you are way out wrong!

Oh dear - that is very sad indeed.

DF.

From BoM - Mareeba A/P

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With a quoted single engine ceiling of 3800' (that will be at ISA) things would turn pear shaped rather quickly on one engine...

RIP

Sad to see them go like this. RIP :sad:

SQ7, is it the Merauke business, or the Citation in Bouganville affair? Not sure myself..

This is behind a paywall, but says it is the pilot of the 'Merauke 5'.

William Scott-Bloxam, 73, and his 63-year-old passenger were killed when his twin-engine 44 Angel aircraft went down in a cornfield near the Mareeba Airport shortly after 11am today.Mr Scott-Bloxam and his wife Vera were among a group of five who sparked an international incident in 2008 when a trip to the Papuan town of Merauke went horribly wrong.The trip – which was part sightseeing and part business – went awry when Indonesian authorities detained the group for entering without a visa.After initially being told they could pay a fine, the five Queenslanders were jailed and sentenced to terms of imprisonment of between two and three years.Their convictions were eventually overturned by the High Court, but they would spend nine months in detention before being allowed to return to Australia.“I feel like a goldfish that has escaped a pool of piranhas,’’ Mr Scott-Bloxam told The Courier-Mail after touching down on Horn Island in Torres Strait in 2009.

``It’s hard to imagine that you end up in the highest court in the land for a misdemeanour case.”At the time, the Federal Government was criticised for doing more to help convicted drug trafficker Schapelle Corby than the five Queenslanders.Today, the plane Mr Scott-Bloxam bought on his return to Australia – a rare Angel Aircraft Corporation twin-engine that is the only one of its kind in the country – crashed into the ground.https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/...151?width=1024Emergency Services are on scene at a light plane crash at Rays Rd near the Mareeba Aerodrome on Saturday. Picture: Bronwyn WheatcroftPolice confirmed a 73-year-old Cooktown man – the pilot – and his passenger, a 63-year-old from Stuart, died at the scene of the crash.Forensic Crash Unit investigators were on scene and police will prepare a report for the coroner.

Witnesses spoke of hearing the plane struggle as it flew overhead.

“I heard the aircraft, the engines were missing and back firing,” one witness posted to social media.

In a post on their Facebook page, the FNQ Aviation Museum said the aircraft was very rare.

“Our hearts go out to the two souls lost on today’s aircraft crash at Mareeba,” the post said.

“The Angel aircraft was unique and the only (of its) type in Australia and believed to have been one of few left in the world.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with their friends and family.”The Australian Transport Safety Bureau released a statement saying a team of investigators from Brisbane and Canberra were planning to travel to Mareeba to examine the wreckage and crash site.“As part of the investigation, ATSB investigators will also interview any witnesses, review aircraft and pilot records and weather information and conduct data recovery,” the statement said.Anyone who saw the crash should contact the ATSB on 1800 992 986.

Ah...What?

What is so unique about Cairns.