Renmark plane crash investigation report delayed, lead investigator quits

THE families of three men killed in a plane crash at Renmark last year may have to wait until 2019 for answers as to why the tragedy occurred. It comes as the lead investigator in the case quit last month.

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THE families of three men killed in a plane crash at Renmark last year may have to wait until 2019 for answers as to why the tragedy happened.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau had been expected to finalise its investigation into the Rossair plane crashby the end of this month but now says its report may not be complete until “early 2019”.

Meanwhile, the widow of one of the victims has opened up about the day she lost the love of her life, ahead of the first anniversary of the devastating crash.

The ATSB has also confirmed the lead investigator in the case quit last month.

Rossair chief pilot Martin Scott, 48, Civil Aviation Safety Authority officer Stephen Guerin, 56 and experienced pilot Paul Daw, 65, died when their nine-seat aircraft crashed in scrubland 4km west of Renmark Aerodrome just before 4.20pm on May 30, 2017.

The ATSB has previously revealed the Cessna Conquest plane was only in the air for 60 to 90 seconds and reached an altitude of about 150m before it crashed.

The Rossair Cessna Conquest 2 crash near Renmark, in SA’s Riverland. Picture: Dylan Coker

An ATSB spokeswoman confirmed the inquiry was going to take longer than expected, sayingtransport safety investigations were “complex and dynamic”.

“This investigation was initially anticipated to take approximately 12 months, however this timeframe was extended due to a combination of factors,” she said.

“In general, reasons for investigation timeframes being extended tend to be due to the examination of evidence opening up more avenues for investigation, awaiting external agencies to provide additional information or expertise, and operational factors such as competing priorities.

“For this particular investigation we did have to wait for an external agency, which resulted in an extension to the timeframe.”

The spokeswoman said she could not elaborate further because it was an active investigation but confirmed the inquiry was “now anticipated for completion late this year or early 2019”.

Martin Scott and his son Andy.

Mr Scott’s fiancee, Terri Hutchinson, said she hoped the investigation into the crash would bring closure to her grieving family and the longer the report took to complete, the longer it would be before this could happen.

“I invest quite a lot of emotional energy into it, as does (Mr Scott’s father) Joe, and I think it will definitely be easier for both of us to move forward when the final report and subsequent inquest are completed,” she said. “However, we are both of the opinion that we would rather wait for as long as it takes if the results are that the investigation has been completed thoroughly.”

Duncan Gordon – director of AE Charter, the parent company of Rossair – said the charter business was continuing to assist the ATSB.

“We’re all keen to understand and see what those findings are,” he said.

Meanwhile, a new lead investigator has been assigned to the case after the original person in charge quit. It is understood families recently received an email from the ATSB saying the investigator resigned on April 10 “effective immediately”.

  

The ATSB said the inquiry would run until late this year or early 2019. Picture: Matt Loxton

An extremely difficult 12 months

ROSSAIR’S parent company says the 12 months since the Renmark plane crash have been “extremely difficult” for the charter company.

Today, the Adelaide Airport-based company runs as a smaller operation after struggling to get back in the air after one of its planes crashed shortly after taking off from the Renmark Aerodrome on May 30 last year.

The smash claimed the lives of Rossair chief pilot Martin Scott, 48, Civil Aviation Safety Authority officer Stephen Guerin, 56 and experienced pilot Paul Daw, 65.

The incident grounded the company’s fleet, which mostly provides services for the mining, energy and tourism industries, for more than three months.

The airline initially hoped to be in the air again within two weeks of the crash, pending the recruitment of a new chief pilot and approval from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

Under aviation regulations, every airline must have a chief pilot in order to operate.

But the company’s plans to quickly begin flying again did not come to fruition after it struggled to recruit a replacement chief pilot.

Duncan Gordon – executive director of AE Charter, Rossair’s parent company – said the past 12 months had been a “very tough period for the company, not only personally but also financially”.

“The past year has been an extremely difficult period for the company,” he said.

“It’s obviously affected a lot of people and families out there.”

It was not until more than three months after the crash that Rossair struck a deal with Melbourne’s AusJet, enabling it to get off the ground again.

The joint venture meant Rossair could use AusJet’s regulatory approvals as well as its chief pilot and maintenance team.

Rossair began flying again in mid-September.

Mr Gordon said the company was committed to continuing to provide services to SA “albeit with a smaller operation than previously”.

“We lost some absolute key parts of our business and good people are very, very hard to find,” he said.

“Some pilots have left for other roles.

“We have a small administrative presence still and we have other casual staff who are utilised on an as-needed basis.”

But Mr Gordon said Rossair was committed to “continued to invest for the long-term in South Australia”.

“The owners have done everything they can to ensure the operation continued,” he said.

Established in 1963, Rossair is Australia’s longest-running charter airline and is based at Adelaide Airport.