Nosedive sealed fates of all six on doomed seaplane
THE same model of seaplane which nose-dived into the Hawkesbury River killing its pilot and a widowed British multi-millionaire and his family was involved in the deaths of another UK family two years ago, it was revealed today.
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THE same model of seaplane which nose-dived into the Hawkesbury River killing its pilot and a widowed British multi-millionaire and his family was involved in the deaths of another UK family two years ago, it was revealed today.
Sydney Seaplanes veteran pilot Gareth Morgan, 44, did not even have time to make a mayday call before his flight ploughed into water, killing catering tycoon Richard Cousins, his fiancee Emma Bowden, her daughter Heather, 11, and Mr Cousins’ sons William, 25, and Edward, 23.
The 55-year-old seaplane chartered for a New Year’s Eve flight by Mr Cousins is still in the process of being retrieved from the crash site at Cowan and is sitting about 13 metres below the surface.
The Sydney Seaplanes craft had an unblemished record and sources in aviation regulation confirmed the company was known to be “meticulous” over safety.
As investigations began into what caused Sunday’s fatal crash, experienced pilots described the model of aircraft at the heart of the doomed descent — the single-engined de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver — as one of the workhorses of the sky, built to withstand the toughest conditions in the Canadian bush.
But the UK Telegraph revealed today the same model aircraft had crashed into the ground in Canada in August 2015 after stalling during a steep turn while on a sightseeing trip.
Tourists Fiona Hewitt, 52, her husband Richard, 50, and children Harry, 14 and Felicity, 17, all from Milton Keynes in the UK , died in the accident as well as the pilot.
The UK Telegraph cites a report by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) published in September that details 31 deaths in nine separate fatal incidents involving the DHC-2 Beaver, in which it stalled and crashed. It reported another three crashes in which there were no fatalities.
In its main recommendation, the Canadian investigators ‘required’ that all commercial DHC-2 aircraft in Canada be fitted with a stall warning system that emits an alarm when the plane is about to go into a stall.
However is not clear if the Australian seaplane had such a system fitted although its operator Sydney Seaplanes states on its website that all its DHC-2s are “equipped with the latest technology”.
In the Canadian crash in 2015, the seaplane “stalled in a steep turn” and hit a rocky outcrop killing the Hewitt family, who were on the last day of a sightseeing tour of Quebec.
NOSEDIVE SEALED FATE OF ALL SIX ON BOARD
WHEN the Beaver seaplane went into a nosedive shortly after taking off from Cottage Point, no one on board stood a chance, aviation experts said yesterday.
Sydney Seaplanes veteran pilot Gareth Morgan, 44, did not even have time to make a mayday call before the flight ploughed into the Hawkesbury River, killing all six on board.
As investigations began into what caused Sunday’s fatal crash, experienced pilots described the model of aircraft at the heart of the doomed descent — the single-engined de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver — as one of the workhorses of the sky, built to withstand the toughest conditions in the Canadian bush.
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MILLIONAIRE AND FAMILY ON DOOMED SEAPLANE
SEAPLANE SALVAGE COULD TAKE DAYS
“Accidents like this are most unusual,” Kevin Bowe of the Seaplane Pilots Association Australia said.
Sydney Seaplanes immediately suspended all flights until further notice with the company’s chief executive Aaron Shaw confirming it was working closely with the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and police marine command to determine what went wrong.
Mr Shaw, 46, did not rule out catastrophic engine failure but seaplane professionals were speculating that it was more likely the plane stalled as it banked to the right on its way out of Jerusalem Bay near Cowan, north of Sydney.
Mr Bowe, an SPAA vice-president who flew seaplanes for 45 years, said the aircraft were generally regarded as safer than other small planes because they usually would be capable of landing on water and even if there was trouble, everyone usually would have time to put on their life jackets and get out.
“But if you get a situation like this and it nosedives, it goes straight to the bottom,” Mr Bowe said.
If anyone survived the initial impact, the pressure of the water would make it impossible to open the doors.
Witnesses reported seeing the plane banking to the right when it suddenly fell out of the sky. Mr Bowe said it was only speculation but the most likely reasons for the crash were if the plane was banking too steeply or too slowly.
Another explanation could be that it hit an unexpected pocket of air coming off the hill nearby.
“It is quite hilly in that area and a downdraft may have caught the pilot out,” Mr Bowe said.
He said there had only been one previous crash involving a Beaver seaplane in Australia and that was more than 30 years ago.
Canadian pilot Mr Morgan had logged more than 10,000 hours flight time, 9000 of which were on seaplanes, and knew the flight from Rose Bay to Cottage Point and back like the back of his hand.
He had flown that route “hundreds of times”, Mr Shaw said.
The plane he was piloting, bearing the registration VH-NOO, was built in Canada in 1963 and bought by the Rose Bay company in 2006.
It was the same plane that flew the Duchess of Cambridge’s sister Pippa Middleton and her new husband James Matthews to Cottage Point Inn for lunch during their honeymoon in Sydney last June.
Mr Shaw said the company’s planes were taken out of the water after every 100 hours of flying time for regular maintenance and the engines were stripped and rebuilt every 1100 hours instead of the regulation 1200 hours.
The rebuilt PRATT & WHITNEY engine on VH-NOO was only 200 hours old, he said.
Mr Shaw, who formed the company in 2007 after buying out all five operators of seaplanes on the harbour, said they had an unblemished record. Sources in aviation regulation confirmed that the company was known to be “meticulous” over safety.
Conditions on Sunday could hardly have been better with another Sydney Seaplanes pilot taking off from Cottage Point Inn just 10 minutes before Mr Morgan’s flight, Mr Shaw said.
“It was about a 15 knot north-easterly wind, which is kind of perfect weather conditions really. It was a lovely day yesterday,” he said. “Gareth departed the restaurant on time. There was no untoward pressure. It was a busy day but we’ve had hundreds of busy days.”
NSW Police Marine Commander Detective Superintendent Mark Hutchings said the investigation was at a very early stage and investigators were “not even close” to establishing if there were any maintenance issues with the seaplane.