ATSB report finds pilot Dean Neal may have been ‘confused’ before crash on Mt Disappointment

An investigation has found the helicopter pilot who crashed on Mt Disappointment in March may have been “confused” as he flew towards a dangerous “wall of cloud”.

A helicopter pilot who crashed on Mt Disappointment in March, killing all five on board in one of the worst recent air disasters in Victoria, may have been confused as he flew towards a dangerous “wall of cloud”.

An Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation into the crash that claimed the life of pilot Dean Neal and passengers Paul Troja, Ian Perry, Linda Woodford and Nicholas Vasudeva found Mr Neal may have been “confused” and thought it was safe to keep flying north over the mountain.

Mr Neal was flying one of two helicopters from Melbourne to Ulupna, near Tocumwal, in March.

The downed Micro flight helicopter at Mt Disappointment. Picture: Nine News

A preliminary report into the crash found his helicopter hit a 70m tree moments after the pilot in the other helicopter turned around and sent a radio message saying “U-turn, U-turn, U-turn”.

Mr Neal had been flying about 3km behind the other helicopter, between two layers of cloud, but conditions quickly worsened in the minutes before the crash.

His helicopter was last seen heading north, towards what the other pilot described as a “wall of cloud” and a passenger described as a “white out”.

ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell. Picture: Jason Edwards

The surviving helicopter returns to Moorabin Airport. Picture: 7 News

A passenger from the other helicopter told investigators “it felt like a heavy white cloud came down and dumped on us”.

The report found the passengers were all “fatally injured” when the helicopter hit the tree and plummeted into the dense forest below.

Most of the wreckage was destroyed in a fire, but investigators found no evidence of any defects with the helicopter that could have caused the crash.

ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said flight track data showed Mr Neal started a left, descending turn just before the crash.

The investigation has so far involved interviews with the pilot from the other helicopter, a review of maintenance records, a survey of the crash site, and a reviewed of meteorological data, among other steps.

“As the investigation continues the ATSB will attempt to download and analyse data from the helicopter’s on-board Appareo camera, which may have recorded video and audio of the accident flight, plus the pilot’s iPad, which was being used to run an electronic flight bag flight planning app, as well as avionics equipment from the helicopter,” said Mr Mitchell.