DFO crash pilot’s widow says he was a hero who saved the lives of many in doomed flight

THE widow of the DFO crash pilot says her husband steered the plane into the shopping centre to avert mass carnage on the busy Tullamarine Fwy. It comes as a fresh investigation into the crash was launched.

THE widow of DFO death crash pilot says her husband was a hero and believes he averted further carnage on the day.

Speaking for the first time about the horror plane plunge, which claimed five lives, Cilla Quartermain said her husband, Max, was a “true gentleman” and would never jeopardise safety.

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As the one-year anniversary of the fiery crash approaches next week, she still struggled to understand the tragedy.

“Every day I ask, ‘Why why why. Why him? Why Max?’”

She believed her husband crashed into Essendon’s DFO shopping centre trying to avoid landing on the busy Tullamarine Freeway during peak hour.

Pilot Max Quartermain, 63, died in the Essendon DFO plane crash.

“If he would have ended up on the freeway, more people would’ve been killed,” she told the Herald Sun. “As far as I am concerned, he is a hero, and he took his life on that day to save others.

“He would’ve done everything in his power to rectify the problem, but it appears he didn’t have time.

“If there was something wrong with the plane, he never would have flown it.”

Mr Quartermain was flying four American tourists — Greg DeHaven, Russell Munsch, John Washburn and Glenn Garland — to King Island in Tasmania to play golf when the plane crashed, exploding into a fireball on February 21 last year.

Greg DeHaven, Russell Munsch, John Washburn and Glenn Garland were all killed in the crash.

Max Quartermain’s widow says he was a stickler for safety.

The doomed flight lasted just nine seconds and the 63-year-old pilot made seven mayday calls before the crash.

The cause of crash into the back of shops and a carpark is yet to be determined.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s preliminary investigation into Victoria’s worst civil aviation accident in 30 years did not identify any pre-existing faults with the Beechcraft B200 Super King Air plane.

Mrs Quartermain, who cries for her husband every day, said her husband was not a rogue pilot.

The plane was captured on camera crossing into Essendon DFO. Picture: Channel 9

“He was one of the best and everyone wanted him as a pilot,” she said.

“You felt safe with him because he was very pedantic. He was a stickler for safety — everything had to be right and it had to be perfect.

“Passengers came first, no matter what. If the plane wasn’t right, he wouldn’t fly it.

“I know that he didn’t do anything wrong — he is not that type of pilot.”

Mrs Quartermain believes her husband was trying to avoid landing on Tullamarine Freeway. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

Since the tragedy, Mrs Quartermain continues to grapple with her grief. But she looks to her children and eight grandchildren to get her through the dark times.

“My life has never been the same again. But you have to climb the mountain and try to move on with life,” she said.

“If you don’t, you will just end up in a ditch, unable to get out.”

The ATSB also continues to probe another flight that Mr Quartermain was in charge of over a “near collision” with another plane on Mount Hotham in September 2015.

The final report on the ­Essendon crash is expected to be finalised in late May to early June.

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The initial report into the fatal crash was to be complete this month but due the number of deaths and sensitivities, more time was needed and is now expected to be released in late May or early June.

The Herald Sun can reveal the Australian Transport Safety Bureau will now launch a separate probe into the death crash from the airport.

A light aircraft has crashed into DFO in Essendon. Fire Crews douse what looks like the fuselage. Picture: Jason Edwards

Smoke and flames after a twin-engined Beechcraft plane crashed into DFO shopping centre, just after takeoff from Essendon Fields airport. Picture: Channel 7 News

An ATSB spokesman said should a “critical safety issue” be identified during the investigation, immediate action would need to be taken.

“Due to the specialist nature of the approval process and airspace issues attached to the retail centre development, and not to delay the final report into the accident, the ATSB has decided to investigate this matter separately,” the spokesman said. “The investigation will examine the building approval process from an aviation safety perspective, including any airspace issues associated with the development, to determine the transport safety impact of the development on aviation operations at Essendon Airport.”

Forensic investigators at the crash scene. Picture: Ian Currie

A view of the crash site. Picture: ATSB

For many years, opponents of Essendon Fields Airport have complained about noise and aviation experts and pilots believe it had become too built up with its retail and commercial precinct.

The private chartered plane crash into the DFO shopping complex last year, which killed five people — pilot Max Quartermain and four American golfing mates on their way to King Island — reignited the debate.

The Essendon tragedy remained a riddle following a preliminary report released last March with the ATSB finding there were no signs of engine failure and no faults to the plane except that the cockpit recorder was not working.

Essendon Fields Airport is Australia’s biggest base for corporate jets, houses the Air Ambulance, Police Air Wing, Royal Flying Doctor Service and firefighting helicopters and has four airlines flying to eight destinations.

The airport’s boss Chis Cowen said safety was always its key consideration and no expansion would be allowed to go ahead if it risked lives.

“We recognise we are a city airport and we are surrounded by community,” he said.

“Those services are not easily relocated. It is not as simple as that. The reason they fly here is because it’s appropriate for their use.”

The DFO building, part of the Bulla Rd Precinct Retail Outlet Centre development, was approved by the federal government in 2004.

The airport’s terminal will begin a $4 million facelift from next month to bring it into the modern era and cater for 200,000 passengers annually.

The ever-expanding Essendon Fields precinct is home to 6000 jobs — set to grow to 14,000 — more than 200 businesses, including two supermarkets and the Hyatt Place Hotel.

The Essendon Airport Masterplan estimated a net-­direct economic benefit of $484.6 million annually to the Moonee Valley area.

The private airport, owned by the Fox and Beck families, was the city’s first international airport prior to Tullamarine opening in 1970.

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