Six dead, including 11-year-old girl, in Hawkesbury River seaplane crash
THE managing director of the seaplane company which saw one of its aircrafts crash on the Hawkesbury River says pilot Gareth Morgan did not make an emergency call before the tragedy.
NSW
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THE managing director of the seaplane company which saw one of its aircrafts crash on the Hawkesbury River killing a family of five has described his heartache at calling the family of the pilot who also lost his life.
Aaron Shaw paid tribute to experienced pilot Gareth Morgan, 44, who died when his aircraft plunged into Jerusalem Bay, along with businessman Richard Cousins, 58. His sons, Edward and William Cousins, aged 23 and 25, also perished in the flight, as did his fiancee Emma Bowden, 48, and her daughter, Heather Bowden-Page, 11.
Mr Morgan was remembered as a “lovely and gentle guy”.
Mr Shaw told reporters that Mr Morgan had more than 10,000 flying hours, 9000 of which were on sea planes.
“We are all absolutely devastated at his loss and ringing his parents today was obviously one of the worst calls that I have ever had to make in my life and they are really sad and devastated by his loss,” Mr Shaw said.
“On a personal level he was deeply respected and liked by me and all of the team at Sydney Seaplanes as a man and as a pilot. He flew my family and I to Palm Beach just before Christmas. We are devastated by his loss,” Mr Shaw said.
“I have spoken to Gareth’s parents who live in Canada and offered our deepest sympathies. We will support them in any way we can.”
No emergency call is believed to have been made by the plane before the crash, Mr Shaw said, adding Mr Morgan had thousands of hours of experience in seaplanes.
“He flew my family and I to Palm Beach just before Christmas,” he said.
While the cause of the accident is still unknown, Mr Shaw said Sydney Seaplanes were dedicating its full resources to assisting NSW Police, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and other relevant authorities.
He said conditions were “benign” and no untoward weather activities had been reported through the day.
SEAPLANES ‘PROFESSIONALLY MAINTAINED’
Mr Shaw said Sydney Seaplanes’ aircraft were “professionally maintained to the manufacturer’s specifications”, adding the company’s sea plane pilots were “some of the most experienced in the world”.
“These aircraft are some of the most widely used sea planes in the world to this day. We operated two of those until yesterday and there’s hundreds of them operating all over the world to this day,” he said.
“They are checked over at the end of each day... every 100 hours of flying time they’re taken out of the water into a hangar or an area for regular maintenance.
“The engines are required to be replaced every 1200 hours - we replace hours at 1100 hours and the engine on this aircraft was 200 hours old.”
The sea plane was a 1964 model that had travelled from Rose Bay to Cottage Point Inn for lunch. It was due to return to Rose Bay.
Mr Shaw said he had seen the families before the flight, saying they were “excited”.
When asked about whether the crash would taint the company’s unblemished safety record, Mr Shaw said the focus was on helping staff rather than considering the future of the business.
“Sea planes are generally regarded as one of the safest forms of light aircraft aviation in the world and they will remain that way,” he said.
Mr Shaw said the pilot of a flight that departed 10 minutes before Mr Morgan departed didn’t report an untoward weather activity.
“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.”
Sydney Seaplanes manages between 40-50 flights a day, Of these, 10-12 fly to Cottage Point.
Co-owner Ken Gaunt shed tears, saying staff were “devastated”.
“Obviously it’s a very traumatic day for not only Sydney Seaplanes and for Australia but for our customers around the world and our condolences are with the Cousins family, the Bowdens and with Gareth’s family,” he said,
“We really do have a family community here and the fact we had a staff meeting this morning and everyone came and was together, it’s tough. Everyone is pretty shocked, bewildered.”
SEAPLANE’S FINAL MINUTES CAUGHT ON FILM
Footage has emerged of the final minutes of a seaplane which crashed into the Hawkesbury River in Sydney’s north yesterday killing all six people on board including an 11-year-old girl.
The footage was filmed from a boat on the Hawkesbury River near Cowan Creek where the Havilland Beaver light aircraft went down about 3.15pm yesterday.
MORE: POLICE NAME VICTIMS OF SEAPLANE TRAGEDY
Police dive crews are this morning preparing to refloat the wreckage which will need to be brought back to the surface before forensic air-crash investigators can piece together what went wrong.
The plane is submerged in 13.5 metres of water.
It crashed at Cowan Creek at Jerusalem Bay with six people including four British tourists, the pilot and a girl, 11, shortly after heading off on the return trip from Cottage Point.
‘THOROUGH INVESTIGATION’ LAUNCHED
Commander Mark Hutchings of the NSW Police Marine Area Command, said police had mounted a “very thorough investigation” following the crash.
“Police divers from my command were flown from Birch Grave Oval to the scene in very quick time. That action allowed the police divers to recover the six bodies from the plane,” he told reporters at a press conference in Balmain this morning.
“We have in the course of this investigation already been in contact with the UK and we can confirm that the persons involved in this matter were visitors from overseas.”
Commander Hutchings said three investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau had been flown from Canberra to collaborate with officers from Marine Area Command.
“They are currently with my investigators working out the details on how we are going to salvage the plane.”
He described the scene as “traumatic” for first responders but said welfare processes were in place.
“When you get a situation where this amount of people perish it’s tragic and it’s not lost on me that this also has an impact on investigators and divers who attend the scene,” he said.
“The divers did an excellent job yesterday. They were there quickly and they they got the job done very quickly and I’m proud of them.”
HOLIDAY JOY RIDE ENDS IN TRAGEDY
IT should have been a fun flight back after a luxurious sun-drenched lunch.
But a holiday highlight for five Sydney Seaplanes passengers has turned to heartache for their families after the single-engine DHC-2 Beaver seaplane crashed, killing everyone on board.
Witnesses say the aircraft made a sharp right-hand turn shortly after takeoff and crashed into Jerusalem Bay, near Cowan, 40km north of Sydney’s CBD, just after 3pm.
Four of the passengers were confirmed as British nationals — including an 11-year-old girl — returning to the Sydney Seaplanes Rose Bay base from lunch at Cottage Inn Point. The experienced pilot was also killed in the crash.
It’s a trip made by thousands of passengers every year, including some of the world’s biggest celebrities.
MORE: Sea plane crashes on Hawkesbury River with six people on board
A search and rescue operation located the wreckage of the submerged plane in about 13m of water and police divers began attempts to recover the six bodies from the wreckage. By 7.30pm last night, their terrible task was complete.
Horrified onlookers said the plane nosedived straight into the water just after taking off from Cottage Point.
“We saw a seaplane coming towards us about 500m away — it did a tight, right-hand turn,” witness Myles Baptiste said. “The wings dipped and it nosedived straight into the water.’’
While the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter was on the scene almost immediately, there was little its crew could do.
“It was certainly too deep for us access it and that’s why the police divers have been called in,” spokesman Stephen Leahy said.
Marine Area Command and the Police Air Wing investigators were travelling to the scene yesterday.
“It’s about recovering the bodies, seeing if we are able to recover the plane tonight or whether it will stay until tomorrow morning, working with the seaplane company to confirm the identities of those on board and then obviously letting their relatives and next of kin know,” Acting Superintendent Michael Gorman of the Ku-ring-gai Local Area Command said.
Later yesterday evening, after the bodies were recovered, he confirmed the chartered flight was for “pleasure rather than business”.
“I can confirm police divers have now recovered six bodies from the wreckage of the plane. They are being brought back to Apple Tree Bay,” he said.
“The plane will be kept in situ until a team from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) arrives tomorrow morning, after which the plane will be moved.
“At this stage because of the early nature of the investigation we have not confirmed the identities of the people on the plane.
“I would request people not speculate as to the identities or ages of the people, that’s a major part of our investigation because next of kin have not been informed.”
Supt Gorman said the bodies would be taken to Glebe’s Department of Forensic Medicine where they would undergo a post-mortem.
“The investigation will prepare their report for the coroner in the days ahead,” Supt Gorman said. He also called for public help in working out what had happened.
“I know police have spoken to a number of people who witnessed the incident but would again encourage anyone who hasn’t been spoken to by police to contact either the Marine Area Command or Crime Stoppers,” he said. “We would like to see any footage people may have taken of the plane prior to or at the time it crashed into the water.”
It is understood one of the lines of inquiry is whether or not the plane made an emergency landing on the water and then flipped.
Meanwhile, a UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokeswoman said: “Officials from the British Consulate are in contact with local authorities in relation to a sea plane accident near Sydney. We stand ready to provide consular assistance.”
Sydney Seaplanes flies about 27,000 people every year from a Rose Bay base that has housed seaplanes since the First Empire class “flying boats” began the epic trek to London 80 years ago.
Yesterday’s crash is the first accident for the company. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau confirmed it was investigating.
“The sequence of events leading up to the accident are not yet understood, however following the impact with the water, the aircraft is reported to have sunk rapidly,” a statement said. The ATSB’s executive director transport safety Nat Nagy and a team of three transport safety investigators are travelling to the accident site. A preliminary report is expected within 30 days. A final report may take up to 12 months.
A planned New Year’s Eve celebration at the Sydney Seaplanes Empire cocktail lounge was cancelled last night.
In a macabre twist, in July 1998 four Britons and an Australian pilot were killed when a seaplane crashed into a headland at Calabash Bay in Berowra Creek on the Hawkesbury River following an unsuccessful landing approach.