Widows to seek millions in compo as findings into fatal Essendon DFO crash revealed

LAWYERS representing the families of passengers who died in last year’s Essendon DFO crash will seek millions of dollars in compensation now that details of the tragedy have come to light.

LAWYERS representing the families of passengers who died in last year’s fiery DFO plane crash will seek millions of dollars in compensation now that details of the tragedy have come to light.

Air crash investigators today revealed pilot error was behind the crash, with Max Quartermain not doing a full cockpit checklist, and did not realise the aircraft’s rudder trim was in the full nose left position.

This meant upon take off, the plane was yawing to the left and once in the air was unable to get control as speeds increased.

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The plane moments before it crashed into the Essendon DFO.

The ATSB says the pilot had five opportunities to notice the rudder trim was not in neutral position.

The pilot also failed to identify the cockpit was not turned on.

Pilot Max Quartermain was flying American mates Greg DeHaven, Russell Munsch, John Washburn and Glenn Garland to King Island to play golf when the plane crashed last February, erupting in a ball of flames and killing them instantly.

Their Beechcraft B200 plane was in the air for only nine seconds and Mr Quartermain managed Seven MAYDAY calls before it ploughed into Essendon’s DFO shopping precinct.

Fire and Damage to the DFO shopping complex in the aftermath of a plane crash at Essendon Fields, February 21, 2017.

Gordon Legal partner Paul Henderson said he would be advising the four widows make two separate claims off the back of the ATSB report.

“I’m not prepared to quote individual figures but we wouldn’t bring the negligence action, it would not be necessary, if the Civil Aviation Carrier’s Liability Act wasn’t capped at $725,000,” he said.

“The negligence action against the pilot’s estate gives a broad range of damages.

“All up, for this group of people it will be in the millions.

“Considering the cause of the accident, we hope that the insurers of the carrier and pilot will take a conciliatory approach and seek to resolve these claims as soon as possible to avoid any further trauma for to all families involved in the tragedy.”

The roof of the DFO building adjacent to Essendon Airport where the B200 King Air crashed. Picture: ATSB

In a group statement, the widows of the passengers thanked emergency services workers and the Victorian public for their support.

“For more than 12 months our heartache has been accompanied by painful questions,” the statement said.

“Today we finally get some answers to those questions but the heartache will last forever.”

Overview of the Essendon accident site. Picture: ATSB

The pilot’s wife Cilla Quartermain said her husband cared about all passengers he flew.

“I know in those terrifying final moments of this accident he would have been doing everything in his power to bring the plane safely back to the airport to save his passengers,” she said.

“For 40 years he had a successful career in aviation and it is tragic that it had to end with his death.”

The crash on February 21, 2017 saw debris hit the busy Tullamarine Freeway during peak hour.

Left propeller slash marks in roofing material with tape measure showing the distance between the cuts. Picture: ATSB

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s preliminary report released soon after the fatal plunge found there were no pre-existing faults with the aircraft and no problems with the engines.

ATSB chief commissioner Greg Hood said had the checklist been followed, the crash would have been avoided.

“Checklists are essential for overcoming limitations by pilot memory and enduring actions are completed in sequence,” he said.

“Even experienced pilots are not immune to checklist errors.”

The B200 rudder with rudder trim tab set to the full nose-left position. Picture: ATSB

He said once the plane was airborne, there was nothing that could be done to avoid the crash.

“Given the trajectory of the aircraft if it hadn’t struck the shopping centre it may well have impacted on the Tullamarine Freeway at nine o’clock,” Mr Hood said.

Checklists vary in scale but for the doomed aircraft, there would have been between 10 and 30 checks.

It did a separate probe to prevent further delays in the final report — which has taken 581 days to reveal what happened on the doomed plane.

The pilot’s wife, Cilla Quartermain, has previously told the Herald Sun she believed her husband crashed into Essendon’s DFO shopping centre to avoid landing on the road.

“If he would have ended up on the freeway, more people would’ve been killed,” she said.

“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.”

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