Lockhart Crash
Unfortunately it looks like a 10 seater plane has crashed up at Lockhart with 5 possible fatalities.
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VH-OZO C404?
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https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...bcd07d45d120ce
Five people are feared dead after a plane crash near Lockhart River township on Cape York Peninsula. A charter flight carrying government workers was reported missing at about 11.30am on Wednesday. The Cessna 404 was last heard from around 9.30am when it made two attempts to land near Lockhart River in the state’s far north. Wild weather has been buffeting the area but it was not immediately clear if that was a factor in the crash.Police have confirmed they are investigating an aviation incident. The Cessna 404 is a twin-engine aircraft capable of carrying up to ten passengers. |
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Aussieflyboy - the ABC are saying VH-OZO was the rego...
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https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/233865
Very Sad. 5 families have been smashed. Operated by Air Connect, a relatively new Cairns based company (Few years) who leased this machine from another company. Conducted as a single pilot operation. The owner of the plane but NOT the current operator is, "Perth-based charter company Aerohire has confirmed it was their aircraft and the Cessna’s registration number was VH-OZO." With AAP https://www.aerohire.com.au/ No suggestion Aerohire are in anyway responsible or involved other than the owner of OZO. |
Ejector, I think you’ll find it was operated locally out of Cairns and was cross hired out of Perth. OZO has been around Cairns for quite some time.
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Terrible news, reminds me of the Aero Commander accident with Telstra workers onboard that crashed on the Cape in bad weather about 15 years ago. The pilot involved in that accident was very experienced and well respected, hence it can happen to anyone.
The aircraft was once P2-ALG in a previous life, many memorable hours flying it around the Niugini Islands over 20 years ago. I think it was originally with Eastern’s based out of Sydney. |
Very sad news
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East Air or Hinterland?
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NOT Eastair. I don’t know who it IS, I just know who it’s not.
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VH-OZO is operated by a Company called Airconnect.
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The holder of the AOC under the authority of which an aircraft happens to be operating at a particular point in time does not have to be the registered operator.
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Pull back a little folks. There’s some families in distress right now. It’ll all come out in the wash. Please be compassionate.
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I've just realised I have been wrongly logging my Navajo flight details for some 40 years, I should have been calling it a Cessna 404 if the photo at https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/austr...cid=spartandhp is to be believed.
CC |
Latest Weather Observations Lockhart River
For those wondering, BOM reports wind Calm at 0900 with maybe 2mm max within an hour either side. Condolences to all involved. |
Originally Posted by anothertwit
(Post 10709772)
East Air or Hinterland?
t |
Cairns Post newspaper at its very best
Give these idiots an award for investigative journalism The Cessna Titan as they describe it, was many moons ago a Piper Navajo owned by Aus Air at Moorabbin. Cairns Post has even blanked out the Aus Air name.... Idiots! https://content.api.news/v3/images/b...0007?width=650 Five confirmed dead in Cape air tragedyCessna down The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is dispatching investigators to the site of a light plane crash on Cape York, which has claimed the lives of five people. |
Originally Posted by Checklist Charlie
(Post 10709869)
I should have been calling it a Cessna 404
Very sad. As stated it was not operated from another state and it was not East Air and not Hinterland. Not gonna mention names sorry. Respect those involved please. |
Hmmmm....temp vs dew point for hours before and after quite telling of the expected cloudbase.
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Archie Bargy, yes I know what the register says. What is aircraft in the photo link I referred to?
CC |
Originally Posted by Checklist Charlie
(Post 10709939)
Archie Bargy, yes I know what the register says. What is aircraft in the photo link I referred to?
CC https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....7655d54403.jpg The Navajo was struck off the register sometime around 2006 (there is a photo of in on A-net in a rather derelict state at that time). |
Not sure when the 404 was exported to Australia, probably about 15 years ago. It was previously P2-ALG ex Airlink PNG. It’s ex sister PNG ship P2-ALK is now at the Goroka Aero Club in the kids playground.
Condolences to everyone effected by this tragedy. It’s very sad and hopefully we will all be able to learn from this accident. |
Originally Posted by Ixixly
(Post 10709889)
Latest Weather Observations Lockhart River
For those wondering, BOM reports wind Calm at 0900 with maybe 2mm max within an hour either side. Condolences to all involved. Police believe the aircraft crashed into sand dunes as wild weather including monsoonal rain and high winds whipped the region. https://i.imgur.com/NMMlIO9.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ZYzAQF9.jpg |
In all fairness that was from the Superintendent they were interviewing and conditions around the area don't look great really and he had probably only been barely briefed by his own people. Also in regards to media using a photo of OZO from a previous life, I mean really people? Is this what we're going to get hung up on?
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Lockhart River Mayor said ... It is a very difficult place to fly into. (ABC News) FWIW he corroborated the police’s account This morning was terrible weather — we had a low over the top of Lockhart River and it poured down for hours |
Originally Posted by Archie Bargy
(Post 10710355)
Anyone with local knowledge guess why a Mayor would say this? It’s like ‘everyone knows’. Is it really that difficult?
If he is referring to flying in monsoon season well that’s no different to the rest of the region. That’s a PIC call. To end up in the sand dunes where they did, would potentially indicate they were on Base for 30. The wind was dead and showers recorded within the previous window was indicative of clouds. However, IMC seems to be a given going off that forecast. Look, I’m not claiming it’s IMC, the forecast essentially gives us that data, I’m not claiming it engineering. It could be anything. But, if it’s IMC, we have an issue here, a growing problem trending in the wrong direction. |
Unfortunately, not the first disaster at Lockhart River. 2005 Metroliner accident report.
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications...200501977.aspx |
Originally Posted by Ixixly
(Post 10709889)
Latest Weather Observations Lockhart River
For those wondering, BOM reports wind Calm at 0900 with maybe 2mm max within an hour either side. Condolences to all involved. Another sad day and my thoughts go to all those impacted. :ouch: |
IFR into terrain
Came across to see what the brains trust have said..
Same old same old. Experienced pilot Bad Weather Get home itis What went wrong We will hear in a year or so. And the world goes on. Evidence everywhere of slack training performance and experience. Despite CASA hammering Human Condition at the seminars. If you dont believe just check out the flight radar tracks of those trainees shooting the YHML NDB approach and compare it with the plate! truncated half baked approaches that would not pass a test and would be a fail. so where has the standard gone with all you ifr jocks? Qualified with your low level annual circling approach and not broken the minima lately? We are still shaken by Mangalore and every time death rate seems to go up. Like with the two Angel Flight crashes in my region all we get is seminars saying DONT! |
Haven't flown GA for yonks. But as a poorly paid pilot who was always afraid for the longevity of his job, I can tell you there was a strong imperative to "Git her done, boy". Upgrades onto better aircraft and better assignments were rewards handed out to those who went that "extra mile".
And at the end of the day, there was never anyone there to stick up for you when you decided to divert or take the safer and inevitably more expensive or inconvenient option. Everyone from the passengers to management hated you and marked you down as being an inferior pilot. I remain thankful for one small mercy - at least back then we never had the internet with its seemingly unlimited supply of been-nowhere, done-nothing, know-alls. |
Not where I worked in GA Lucille, company stuck up for safe pilots 100% of the time. (As did majority of the competition) What’s more, anyone who did try to go the “extra mile” in a dodgy, half arsed fashion, would certainly have to worry about longevity. There were a few.
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Despite CASA hammering Human Condition at the seminars. I have seen no evidence of CASA "hammering" Human Factors. In any case a lot of this stuff is online nowadays |
I understand there is no camera or Unicom at the airport to provide information on local conditions.
Just like Lord Howe where the local bloke Clive Wilson has been prevented from giving local weather! |
Dick, what about WAAS? What price having vertical guidance on a RNAV approach but the self-proclaimed safety experts don't seem to think it necessary. Info (visual or voice) on local conditions is fine but I would much rather vertical guidance than what prevails today.
From the public media announcements I am led to think this aircraft had already made two unsuccessful attempts at landing (presumably RNAV R30) and crashed at about 3.3 nm short of the runway on the third approach. It is known from experience that the chance of a crash increases with the number of approaches made. That is why some airlines forbid flight crew from commencing an approach if the conditions are less than the minima. With WAAS (or whatever it is called these days) that minima can be much lower than our RNAV approaches. From videos posted on-line from GA pilots in the USA their minima with vertical guidance are approaching that of an ILS. It is time we moved from the dark ages in Australia. There is a wealth of aviation advances around the world that we are ignoring with fatal results. |
Alledgedly one of the guys on the plane sent a picture of the weather after the second aborted attempt to land.
RIP guys. |
Originally Posted by Dick Smith
(Post 10710926)
I understand there is no camera or Unicom at the airport to provide information on local conditions.
Just like Lord Howe where the local bloke Clive Wilson has been prevented from giving local weather! |
Originally Posted by Dick Smith
(Post 10710926)
I understand there is no camera or Unicom at the airport to provide information on local conditions.
Just like Lord Howe where the local bloke Clive Wilson has been prevented from giving local weather! |
I’m not sure what value a camera would have in preventing this accident. The PIC was by definition a professional pilot and the expectation is that he should give it a go unless there was good reason not to. He was IFR rated for a reason.
My experience of Lockhart over 3 years is that it’s tropical and if you don’t like the weather wait 30 mins. Cameras have their usefulness in determining VFR conditions and should be encouraged in that context. Their usefulness is limited in determining whether the cloud is above or below IFR RNAV minima. The METAR. AWIS and talking to UNICOM operator are many many times more useful than a webcam image |
Originally Posted by lucille
(Post 10710801)
Haven't flown GA for yonks. But as a poorly paid pilot who was always afraid for the longevity of his job, I can tell you there was a strong imperative to "Git her done, boy". Upgrades onto better aircraft and better assignments were rewards handed out to those who went that "extra mile".
And at the end of the day, there was never anyone there to stick up for you when you decided to divert or take the safer and inevitably more expensive or inconvenient option. Everyone from the passengers to management hated you and marked you down as being an inferior pilot. I remain thankful for one small mercy - at least back then we never had the internet with its seemingly unlimited supply of been-nowhere, done-nothing, know-alls. |
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