Emerald plane crash 2018: Timothy White’s wife files lawsuit for $2 million

Trainee-pilot Timothy White died when the plane he was flying crashed near Emerald in 2018. According to the court documents, he shouldn’t have been allowed to fly the plane by himself.

“Nanny there are two policemen walking down the driveway”.

It was the morning of January 14, 2018 and Leanne White was enjoying the Christmas school holidays with her granddaughter Georgia, who was 10 at the time.

Ms White’s husband Timothy White was out doing a flying lesson and they had plans to take Georgia across the road to the pub for lunch.

Unbeknown to her, Ms White’s world was about to be turned upside down.

Unfortunately, the police officers Georgia had spotted were there to inform Ms White that her husband had been tragically killed in a plane flying lesson.

Mr White, who was 53 at the time, was flying an ultralight aircraft by himself when it crashed about 15kms south of Emerald near the Gregory Highway in Central Queensland just after 7.30am.

The police detective at the time said Mr White had taken off from Emerald Airport at 6am for training and, after he failed to return, his instructor went up to look for him and discovered the crash site from the air.

Mr White was found dead at the scene.

The fatality prompted a series of investigations from police and aviation authorities, which have continued to drag on for years.

“I feel extremely frustrated, I just feel like life has been four years on and nothing has happened,” Ms White said.

While money won’t bring her soulmate back, Ms White has sought some compensation and has filed a lawsuit against the operator of the company that conducted the plane flying lesson.

A claim lawsuit for almost $2 million in damages was filed in the Rockhampton Supreme Court in January by Maurice Blackburn, on behalf of Ms White, against John Gordon of Fly CQ Emerald.

According to the court documents, Mr White had engaged Mr Gordon to provide instruction for him to obtain a pilot licence.

The Statement of Claim alleges Mr White had undertaken training before the date of the crash in a two seat aircraft provided by Fly CQ.

On the day of the crash, Mr White used his own aircraft which was a single seat, amateur-built pioneer international aircraft.

The court documents allege that under the Civil Aviation Order, Mr White was not permitted to operate a single seat aircraft.

This was in accordance with the number of flying hours he had completed so far and the licence he held at the time.

The court documents further allege Mr White commenced stall entry and recovery manoeuvres at the instruction of the instructor, Mr Gordon, when he lost control which caused the aircraft to plummet to the ground, where he was killed.

The lawsuit alleges Mr Gordon breached his duty, failed to ensure the aircraft was airworthy and should have known Mr White did not have the required licence or authority to operate the aircraft on his own.

Investigations began immediately after the fatal crash by various authorities. An investigation was conducted by the Australian Traffic and Safety Bureau (ATSB) on behalf of Recreational Aviation Australia (RAAus). Ultimately, no charges were laid.

ATSB investigators looked at the aircraft’s flight controls and part of the left wing structure, and analysed the audio and video from the on-board recording device.

The results of the ATSB examination were finalised in April 2019 and were passed on to RAAus.

The investigation by RAAus was submitted to the Coroner.

As investigations have continued for years, Ms White has grown increasingly frustrated at the length and processes involved.

“I thought being a plane, it would be more regimented,” she said.

“If you teach a kid to drive you have all these rules and regulations … But with a plane … That’s what I struggle with a lot, it just seems to be all laid-back and blase.”

Holding back tears, Ms White described her husband as someone who dotted his Is and crossed his Ts.

“He wouldn’t have done anything if he didn’t feel safe,” she said.

“The rules and regulations have to change, there’s got to be something (done).

“I just want it to be more regulated.

“I don’t think I’ve ever really grieved while it’s still going.

“I just don’t want it to happen again, like we have had to suffer.”

Just months before Mr White was killed in the crash, Ms White lost her daughter, Taylee, 28, to a rare condition, pseudo-Hirschsprung‘s disease.

She was born without a bowel and stomach and was the only person in Australia to be diagnosed with the condition.

She lived longer than anyone had with the condition.

Ms White grimly compared her grieving between the two deaths.

“When Tim passed away, it was constantly brought up, the coroner would call up … then someone else would,” she said

“I just need it all to be finished.”

The lawyer overseeing the case, Alison Barrett, said her client’s life had been completely turned upside down and she had suffered trauma, mental distress and had lost her livelihood.

“No matter of money is going to compensate her for the loss of her husband,” she said.

“Most importantly for her it’s not about the money, she doesn’t want anyone else to go through what she has gone through.”

Speaking about light aircraft or helicopter crashes, Ms Barrett said they seemed to happen too often.

“There is no room for error when you are flying an aircraft or doing training,” she said.

“We would always welcome any changes or improvements where the aim is to improve safety particularly in recreation aviation …. Whether that be more regular inspections by CASA; harsher penalties in the law.

“If one life is saved … or one person isn’t injured … That is always a positive.”

Not a day goes by when Ms White doesn’t think of her husband and miss him.

“Tim was the one who took care of everything … He would just do it all,” she said.

“That’s a huge loss, I miss just turning around asking him to do something … it’s hard.

“He was just a gorgeous person, an extremely kind, gentle man who loved his family.”

His absence has left a devastating loss in many lives.

“The kids are devastated, Tim’s brothers … his surviving sister, she’s heartbroken and lost … like we all are, it has left a huge hole,” Ms White said.

“His best mate is constantly ringing me and making sure I am all right … he misses him terribly.”

The couple had known each other for most of their lives, as their parents used to holiday together.

The pair dated when they were 13 and 14 but their lives went separate directions and they both got married and divorced.

“We just met up again and it went from there,” Ms White said.

They got married in 1995 in New South Wales.

“People always said it was about time you two got together,” she said.

The husband and wife moved from Tamworth, New South Wales, to Emerald in 2015 to run the Emerald Motel Apartments.

“Tim just felt like a change … he always wanted to do a pub or caravan park, we just packed up and left,” she said.

“It was a lovely little town, Tim and I had worked together before … it just worked.”

A man of many hobbies, Mr White had some extra time on his hands and just decided he wanted to learn to fly.

On the day of the crash, Mr White went out for a morning flying lesson.

Their granddaughter who was up visiting for the school holidays was supposed to go to the lesson as well but she ended up sleeping in so they let her be.

Ms White was going about her regular day to day jobs, cleaning motel rooms, while the tragedy was unfolding.

“I wasn’t even worried he wasn’t home,” she said.

“I just thought he was gasbagging.

“Next thing the police were on the doorstep.

“As I got to the front of the office they said they were looking for Leanne White, I said “that’s me, what have I done”.

“I didn’t believe it. My next door neighbours at the time were beautiful … I just ran next door to Agnes and Trevor.

“Once the police left, I sat there for a minute, I didn’t even know what to do, I didn’t know how to start.”

It was not something she ever wanted to do, but Ms White said she had to call family and friends and break the news.

“I will never forget how some people reacted,” she said.

They couldn’t bury Mr White for some time due to the Coroner’s investigation and when they did, the coffin was brought in on a Harley Davidson - another one of his passions.

He was buried on his birthday, February 9, 2018 - 27 days after the crash.

After her husband died, Ms White found it too hard to run the motel and ended up selling it six months later.

“It was his dream, it was easy running it when he was there,” she said.

“My heart just wasn’t in it anymore.”

She moved back to Tamworth because that was where they lived before Emerald, but now she is there, she still feels like she doesn’t have a home in the world.

“I moved here because it was what I knew, even though he wasn’t here,” she said.

“Now I am here, I still just feel lost without him and I don’t know where I belong.”

No defence has been filed to the lawsuit at this stage.

Mr Gordon spoke to this publication and declined to comment due to the ongoing court proceedings.

“It (the fatality) has affected us incredibly and changed our whole lives as well,” he said.