3 lost west of Brisbane Monday 29-8-22
 

https://www.news.com.au/national/que...3e94be866aa646

Condolences to all.
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The ADS-B track paints an interesting picture....

and what is that?

Very Highly experienced pilot supposedly caught out by marginal weather, at least according to the news.

Odd and inconceivable to me that it could be pilot error.

Not wrong. Seems odd.

What was the weather?

Crossing the range in the vicinity of Pilton/Kings Creek at only 2,600' followed by an immediate descent to 1,300 that then continued down to 400' PA is not normal. Amberley QNH was 1027 at the time, which, if I've done the maths right ((1027-1013)*30)+400 gives 820AMSL in the vicinity of Fernvale while passing 2NM west of a charted 827' hill, before continuing to pass 2NM south of Horse Mountain, charted at 1178'. Followed a minute later by a rapid climb and 180* left turn when the ADS-B track ends. Going by the ADS-B position & corrected altitude, he passed directly over the top of a 130m high hill at Fernvale.

If you want to kill yourself fart-arsing about in bad weather, go hard. Don't risk the lives of your passengers who are trusting your judgement and experience to keep them safe.

This was captured from the Mulgowie School camera at the time they crossed the range around 17NM SW of Mulgowie.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....65eba42e89.jpg

And this one is looking southwest, from Ipswich at around the time of the crash, both images from the Windy.com archives.https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....a8abece487.jpg

Even experienced pilots can make dumbass decisions too.

So sad, and we were only just talking about the dangers of VFR into marginal conditions on the thread regarding the Islander in Tasmania... Even if it turns out to be engine failure or similar the lack of altitude leads to lack of options.

Happened to Neil Williams in a Heinkel 111. Can happen.

Lucille it wasn’t CR was it?

I’ve often wondered whether there were other factors involved in NW’s fatal accident, such as CO poisoning from a faulty heater. Did the He111 have a full IFR panel?

Reads eerily similar to the Kobe Bryant crash.
How much recent fixed wing time did the pilot have compared to his rotorcraft?

https://www.news.com.au/national/que...3e94be866aa646

They were quick to release the pax details. Dare I say that if I was worth $47m, I wouldn’t be flying around in an old Cessna.

A great buddy: RIP Gary.

Did the pilot hold an IR (looking at his previous experience)?

Perhaps another case of Press-on-itis?!?

Plenty of ATSB reports indicate that can happen to the best of experienced pilots and it would appear that the more expensive the pax, the more likely it is also. So sad.

Does anyone know the callsign?

VH-EHM
RIP, Sympathy to family, friends.
RW

http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/282166

Not the first time that a wealthy pax takes a final ride in an old piston engine aircraft when they could have easily chartered a fully IFR turbo prop. Mt Hotham, Menagazzo in the Chieftain and now this. Flying somewhere is not like hiring a stretched limo. There is also the issue of pilot age. Sorry, but the older you get the more your skills and cognitive abilities reduce. At different rates but they do deteriorate. Experience only gets you so far. On the day you are only as good as your last decision and the older you are the less agile your decision making is.

Experience only gets you so far.

My observation is that experience, aligned with skill and knowledge, puts one well ahead of the game. One might appeal to a comment ascribed to Frank Borman - A superior pilot uses his superior judgment to avoid situations which require the use of his superior skill. (libquotes.com)

(I am not commenting on what the mishap pilot did or did not do as I wasn't there and would need a lot more information to contemplate things in detail. However, there are still lessons to be learned for the new chums).