Gold Coast Tiger Moth crash: Cause revealed behind 2013 tragedy which killed Taissia Umenc and Alex ‘Jimmy’ Rae

The joy flight of a lifetime turned to tragedy in the skies above the Gold Coast, killing the pilot and his young passenger. A report finally revealed the cause of the devastating turn of events.

It was supposed to be the flight of a lifetime.

French national Taissia Umenc and her new partner Dennis Toulis arrived on the Gold Coast for a holiday of thrillseeking activities including plans for skydiving.

Instead she lost her life on what was supposed to be a peaceful scenic flight up the coastline.

This weekend marks 10 years since the fatal joy flight which claimed the lives of the 21-year-old Canberra resident and pilot Alex “Jimmy” Rae.

Taissia Umenc and her new partner Dennis Toulis in 2013.

Mr Toulis and Ms Umenc arrived at Tiger Moth Joy Flights’ Jacobs Well hanger where the red and grey Gipsy Major plane took off just after 12.15pm on December 16, 2013.

Just before `12.30pm, nine minutes into the flight, Mr Rae radioed back to the hanger saying he was preparing to “conducting aerobatics over 3500 feet”.

It was the last message which came from the plane before it suddenly fell from the sky, crashing more than 400m off shore of South Stradbroke Island.

Both Ms Umenc and Mr Rae died on impact.

Wreckage was soon spotting floating in the water off the Island, with a large-scale search launched to find any signs of life

The RACQ CareFlight Rescue helicopter was brought in while shattered pieces of the wooden plan washed ashore.

Tiger moth pilot Alex “Jimmy” Rae, was flying the plane that crashed off South Stradbroke Island

Island ranger Geoffrey Joyce was among those who helped collect the wreckage.

pieces were washing up.

“That’s unbelievable finding that (panel) – that sits right on the front,” he told the Bulletin at the time.

“That’s a vertical impact to smash a propeller like that.

“It’s shattered. ‘’

A devastated Tiger Moth Joy Rides owner Geoff Stillman said he could not understand what

“Everything was serviced correctly. These planes need regular service. At this stage there is just no explanation as to what happened,” he said at the time.

“There are strict maintenance schedules these things have to adhere to and everything was followed accordingly.

“We have been in business for 40 years. We were hoping for the best but we have heard the worst.”

Police and rescue services are at the scene of a Tiger Moth plane crash in the ocean off South Stradbroke Island near the Gold Coast. Pics Adam Head

The crash came just weeks before the 26-year-old British man, and his wife Alice, were planning to relocate from the Gold Coast to the Northern Territory to work on a remote cattle station.

An Australian Transport and Safety Bureau report into the crash which was released in 2016, revealed the plane’s left wing snapped off while completing a stunt.

“It found the rods had broken in places of “pre-existing fatigue”; that they were attached using “non-standard” bolts and that the “fatigue life” of the rods had not been known when they were fitted,” the Bulletin reported in 2016.

The report also revealed there was nothing Mr Rae could have done to prevent the crash.

Debris was collected from along the beach. Pics Adam Head

Coroner James McDougall performed an inquest into the accident but did not hold a public inquiry.

“I am satisfied that the direct cause of the crash was wing failure,’’ he wrote in his findings.

A year after the crash, Mr Stillman was still shattered by the incident and later sold the business.

Mrs Rae later sued the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for approving the parts of the plane which failed, causing her husband’s death.

Tragedy struck again on December 28, 2015 when NSW Gary Turnbull died in a crash at Tiger Moth Joy Rides’ airfield. The flight lasted just a minute before it spun out and hit the ground after suffering a “partial engine power loss” but could not explain why.