Aircraft down near Charters Towers
 

Fatal accident en route Bowen, aircraft type unknown.

https://mypolice.qld.gov.au/news/2021/04/23/fatal-aviation-incident-campaspe-near-charters-towers/

Seems it was a Vans RV-7, VH-XWI.

The flight was from Winton to Bowen.

Aircraft only ten months old. :{ RIP to the Aviator.

Not good. There has been a lot of crappy weather thru the region of late. The Cause?
RIP

Very tragic -( ironic how Ray's wife Jen died in an auto accident a few years ago, life is very cruel sometimes.
RIP -(

A former ppruner was showing me the flightaware track last night which was interesting and there was some crud in the Townsville area.

Once the photos of the wreckage are seen you’ll soon be able to join the dots.

Interim report out. Quite a lot of detail.
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications...r/ao-2021-017/

COST as you would know Dick! It's spread over a few levels. Training, remaining current, hiring/owning a suitably equiped machine, airways charges then add WX into that mix! I've been caught a few times over the years in A/C that where less than properly equiped, dangerous territory especially if it's done as a Pvt flight!

More low terrain and good weather that lack of suitable equipment, I would think.

Come on Dick, you know the reason. Unless you're doing it for a job it's next to impossible to stay recent with a CIR.
PIFR helps greatly.

Depends how current you are and your level of local knowledge. I’m not sure I can recall any non flying days of VFR charter 45 years ago. I can however recall not making the destinations on numerous occasions. Knowing when to give up and call it a day is a skill which has been long lost.

If this was completely true we would not have a long sad history of pilots pushing into weather. Just because you had the skills then, many didn't or thought they did and perished at a regular rate, just like they do now. The key is having clear limits and signals that say turn back, not "I've got this" mentality, especially in new machines with fancy gadgets and navaids, they can give you a false sense you can handle IMC. As they say, there are no new ways to crash an airplane.

Quite low hours for the pilot to have in the scheme of things, especially in those kinds of conditions, mixing it with a group of IFR pilots. There would certainly be pressure there to keep up with them and to get there. It was a shame how another pilot had offered to come back and get him, but he tried anyway, unsuccessfully.

271 hours in 46 years. An instrument rating with those hours over that time frame would not have been of much use either.