Inquest starts for Lockart River plane crash that killed five
Family members of the five men who died in a plane crash at Lockhart River grew emotional during the first day of the inquest when an image of the smashed aircraft was shown on a large screen.
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The pilot of a doomed flight which fatally crashed on its approach to Lockhart River in 2020 failed to effectively monitor the aircraft’s altitude and descent rate, an inquest has heard.
Family members of the five men who died in a plane crash at Lockhart River in 2020 grew emotional during the first day of the inquest when an image of the smashed aircraft was shown on a large screen.
Northern Coroner Nerida Wilson is presiding over a four day inquest into the deaths of build workers Wayne Ganter, 63 Henry Roebig, 62, Wayne Brischke 57, and contractor Mark Rawlings, 49, who departed Cairns at 7.19am on a Cessna 404 bound for Lockhart River, when they were killed along with pilot Stuart Weavell, 36, when the plane crashed into sand dunes on its second approach to the runway.
An Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) report released last December found the plane was 1000ft below the recommended descent profile and crashed 6.4km short of the runway.
It was found amid bushland at Quintell Beach 1.25pm.
The inquest will examine issues including the level and adequacy of Mr Weavell’s pilot training, flying proficiency and experience in conducting RNAV GNSS approaches, whether Air Connect had the right safety management system and operating procedures for RNAV, whether the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) policy that Terrain Avoidance Warning Systems (TAWS) were not required in piston engine aircraft was adequate, and recommendations to reduce the likelihood of similar tragedies.
A TAWS would have explicitly indicated the aircraft was well below the recommended descent profile.
Counsel assisting the coroner, Ian Harvey, questioned ATSB lead investigator Dr Mark Walker about Garmin GPS systems on the plane.
There was a terrain awareness system as a standard feature of the unit and it would have flashed a warning 30 seconds and 15 seconds before the collision if it had not been inhibited, Dr Walker said.
He said pilots chose to use the display that showed a map of where they were as this was more valuable information, and in ‘inhibit mode’ there would be no pop up warnings.
The terrain page was still selectable and would display colour-coded terrain and obstacle information relative to the aircraft’s position, but the terrain alert remained deactivated until reselected.
Dr Walker said the terrain page would not normally be selected when conducting an RNAV GNSS approach.
The terrain system also provided forward-looking terrain avoidance (FLTA) alerts.
Provided the terrain system was enabled, a FLTA terrain alert was generated when the altitude above terrain or obstacles was below the minimum clearance value for that phase of flight.
“Regardless of the scenario, for whatever reason, the pilot hasn’t effectively monitored the aircraft’s altitude and descent rate,” Dr Walker said.
Sergeant Scott Ezard, head of the Cairns Police Forensic Crash Unit, was asked how it was that media was aware of the crash and using an image of the cloudy weather taken by a passenger inside the plane before families were notified.
He said police media started getting inquiries around noon and issued a statement at 2.25pm saying a search was underway for the plane.
Sgt Ezard said media routinely sourced material from Facebook posts.
The post with the image said “can’t see bugger all, waiting for the weather to clear”.
Sgt Ezard said police sought permission from families before releasing names.
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Originally published as Inquest starts for Lockart River plane crash that killed five
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