Adelaide-based airline Rossair to fly again after fatal Riverland crash
ADELAIDE-BASED charter airline Rossair has staved off closure and is taking to the skies for the first time since being grounded after a fatal Riverland crash in May.
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ADELAIDE-based charter airline Rossair has staved off closure and is taking to the skies for the first time since being grounded after a multiple fatal Riverland crash in May.
The Advertiser can reveal Rossair has forged a deal with Melbourne’s AusJet to use its regulatory approvals, enabling them to fly again.
This includes Rossair using AusJet’s chief pilot — a position required for airline operations — and maintenance team as part of a joint venture.
Flights will start as early as next week, subject to final approvals from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
Public support for the reborn airline has been urged by Terri Hutchinson, the long-term partner of Rossair’s former chief pilot Martin Scott, one of three people who died in the Renmark crash.
Rossair chief executive Warren Puvanendran said the grounded airline had sought AusJet’s help after the crash to help maintain contracts with clients and had subsequently forged the joint venture.
The deal removes the threat of closure of Rossair — established in 1963 and Australia’s longest-running charter airline — which had struggled to recruit a chief pilot and battled a drain of other flying staff since the crash.
Rossair employed about 20 people, including pilots and administration staff, at its Adelaide base until the crash but hopes to grow job numbers beyond that through the joint venture.
“After a challenging few months, the combination of both groups’ fleet and experienced staff will allow us to commence servicing our clients immediately,” Mr Puvanendran said.
“The new arrangements will see Rossair continue its relationships with and services to its loyal customers, as well as providing the leverage through AusJet, to bring a new dynamic to the state’s air charter industry.
“We are proud of what this opportunity with AusJet can deliver to the SA charter market, but particularly through ensuring an ongoing and welcome association with SA’s mining, energy, tourism and thoroughbred racing industries.”
Mr Scott, 48, retraining pilot Paul Daw, 65, and Civil Aviation Safety Authority officer Stephen Guerin, 56, died when their Cessna 441 Conquest came down in scrubland 4km west of the Renmark Aerodrome about 4.30pm on May 30.
A preliminary Australian Transport Safety Bureau report released in June found the plane nosedived into the ground just seconds after takeoff on the training flight but the cause was not known.
The company’s fleet was grounded immediately and Rossair started the ultimately fruitless search for a chief pilot just days afterwards.
Ms Hutchinson, who was to marry Mr Scott this month, said she was pleased the airline would be back in the air soon.
“Martin poured his heart and soul into that company and he would have been devastated if it closed down. I’m definitely supporting it,” she said.
AusJet chief executive officer Jonathon Moloney said the firms had discovered operational, financial and fleet synergies, while also believing new opportunities would be forged through combining the skills of two “iconic” operators.
The continuing ATSB crash investigation, expected to be completed by the end of May next year, will include an examination of recovered components and manoeuvres being carried out during the check flight.