Hero pilot Anthony Liddell hailed for selfless act

FAMILY and colleagues of Anthony Liddell have mourned the “true gentleman” they lost in a fiery plane crash on Friday night.

THE family of a man tragically killed in a plane crash near Moorabbin Airport have told of their heartbreak, while the pilot has been praised for steering away from homes in one final selfless act.

As in death, Anthony Liddell’s life was often spent putting others first — helping community clubs and spending time with his wife and two children were among his chief priorities.

The Liddell family last night told the Sunday Herald Sun of the enormous sadness they felt at the loss of the dearly loved Mornington Peninsula man.

“Family are naturally devastated by the loss,” they said.

“We are grateful for the support we have received from the community.”

DAD PRAISED FOR SELFLESS FINAL MOMENTS BEFORE PLANE CRASH

SCARLET ST RESIDENTS ‘WAITING FOR DISASTER’

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They asked that they be left in private to grieve, but said they wanted the community to know they had been comforted by the care they had received.

Friends remembered Mr Liddell, aged 50, as “one of the true gentlemen of aviation”.

Shock rippled across the aviation industry and Moorabbin-based CAE, which grounded its flights in honour of their dedicated aircraft maintenance engineer.

Fellow pilot Ralph Guerry, chief of Aus Air Australia, said in the more than 30 years he had known Mr Liddell, he had been a “meticulous” worker and an all-round kind man.

“You could not wish for a nicer guy,” Mr Guerry said. “I just can’t believe he is gone.”

Other friends lay flowers in Scarlet St, Mordialloc, where the plane wreckage was being probed by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to determine the cause of the crash.

Colleagues and fellow pilots hailed Mr Liddell’s actions “heroic”. “I’ve known him for many years, he was a really good bloke,” said one close friend.

“He was highly skilled and would have done this hundreds of times before — he knew what he was doing.”

Mr Guerry added: “His piloting abilities have excelled because he’s managed to hurt no one else.”

Anthony Liddell was a football fan and active in his local community.

Mr Liddell was a respected member of the Mt Martha community where he gave his time to local sporting groups.

On weekends he spent time with family, watching his kids at sport and he had volunteered as an AusKick coach with Mt Martha Junior Football Club.

Club president James Barrett said news of the loss was “surreal”.

“It’s going to hit hard within the community,” he said.

Meanwhile, memories of Friday night’s crash continued to weigh on the minds of bystanders and emergency crews who had been confronted with a 7m-high wall of flames surrounding the Cessna 172.

Air crash investigators at the Mordialloc scene. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Neighbours with garden hoses had made desperate attempts to fight the fire, which took hold after the plane clipped power lines shortly after 5pm. Black smoke from a blazing trail up Scarlet St led firefighters to the wreckage, but by that time Mr Liddell could not be saved.

Flight tracking data showed the plane took off at 4.06pm from Moorabbin Airport and crash landed at 5.13pm, after it had done a near loop.

The airport, its operations and proximity to homes will form part of the ATSB probe.

In an email to staff yesterday, CAE general manager Michael Drinkall expressed “deep regret” and confirmed the crash happened during a routine maintenance check flight.

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