Charter company Rossair begins looking for replacement chief pilot following tragic plane crash near Renmark on Tuesday

A CHARTER flight company that lost its chief pilot in this week’s tragic plane crash near Renmark has started a recruitment process to find a replacement so the business can start operating again.

• Rossair CEO grounds fleet grounded as investigation begins
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A CHARTER flight company that lost its chief pilot in this week’s tragic plane crash near Renmark has started a recruitment process to find a replacement so the business can start operating again.

Rossair chief pilot Martin Scott, 48, retraining pilot Paul Daw, 65, and Civil Aviation Safety Authority officer Stephen Guerin, 56, died when their plane came down in scrubland 4km west of the Renmark Aerodrome about 4.30pm on Tuesday.

The Adelaide-based charter company confirmed on Friday it had begun the recruitment process to find a new chief pilot to enable it to begin operating again once the Civil Aviation Safety Authority gives it the green light.

Airlines are unable to operate without a chief pilot.

Rossair grounded its operations after the crash and hopes to resume flights within two weeks.

It comes as Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators continued to trawl through the wreckage yesterday to help piece together what went so catastrophically wrong during the Rossair training flight.

Investigators going through the plane wreckage in Renmark. Picture: Matt Loxton

Authorities found the wreckage in the Cooltong Conservation Park about 7.10pm after the plane’s beacon was activated.

The ATSB is expected to remain on-site on Saturday and Sunday and may begin removing parts of the plane for further analysis.

Meanwhile, an online fundraiser has begun for Mr Scott.

An outpouring of support has seen the Go Fund Me initiative has raised more than $2600 for his family so far.

On Thursday, ATSB chief commissioner Greg Hood described the crash as one of the more unusual he had encountered given the vast experience of those on board.

He revealed the Cessna Conquest plane was only in the air for 60-90 seconds and reached an altitude of about 150m before it crashed.