Mangalore plane victim’s son also died in plane crash in 2005
The death of a highly experienced Bendigo pilot has dealt a second devastating blow to his wife, after it was revealed that the couple lost their son in a plane crash 15 years ago. It comes as tributes flow for the three aviators who were killed in the tragic collision.
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The wife of an experienced pilot who died in Mangalore’s mid-air collision tragedy also lost their son in a plane crash.
Christiaan Gobel, 79, is said to have been a very experienced flier and was among the three pilots killed in the horrific plane smash.
Bendigo Flying Club chief flying instructor Linda Beilharz said his death dealt a double blow to wife Wilma, who lost son Anthony, aged 35 at the time, in a 2005 aviation crash.
“It is incredibly sad for the family,” Ms Beilharz told the Herald Sun.
“That death makes this one worse, we saw what they went through when he died and how difficult that was,” she said.
“Chris was about to retire, he had worked long and hard, he was about to step down within the month.
Mr Gobel, from the Bendigo suburb of Maiden Gully, was a long-standing member of the local aviation community with more than 50 years under his belt.
“He has a sense of humour which could be sharp, which we appreciated,” Ms Beilharz said.
“He was warm and friendly as well, someone we all looked up to and respected.”
Mr Gobel leaves behind his wife and son Martin who also works in the Australian aviation industry.
The Bendigo Flight Club also joined in paying tribute to Mr Gobel on social media.
“Chris Gobel, a key aviation figure in Bendigo was in one of the aircraft in his role as pilot examiner for Moorabin Aviation Services,” the post said.
“Chris was well-known to many club members. “Many local GA licensed pilots trained with Bendigo Aviation Services, a company run by Chris for a several decades.
“Chris was about to retire after a long aviation career with airline captain, flying school, charter and pilot examiner roles.
“Our thoughts are with Chris’s family and with the families and aviation communities around the other people in those aircraft.”
Mr Gobel’s passenger was a 27-year-old woman from West Melbourne, understood to be a Thai national, and Cheltenham man Ido Segev, 30, and Seaford man Peter Phillips, 47, were today identified as the victims travelling in the other plane.
Peninsula Aero Club president Jack Vevers paid tribute to Mr Phillips and Mr Segev, the two men from his club who tragically passed away in Wednesday’s mid-air collision.
Mr Vevers said Mr Phillips, who was chief flying instructor at the club, was a highly qualified, well regarded person.
“He was a colleague and a friend of the Aero Club, he’d been with us for many years and more or less grew up in the club,” he said.
“He had gone off and flown airlines and then came back to the Aero Club to take up a position as the chief flying instructor where he was a flying mentor to 600 members.
“And also to his colleagues, the other flying instructors that reported to him and he taught.”
Mr Vevers said Mr Segev was a well-loved member and highly regarded for his aviation skills.
“He was a world champion in remote control and also drone aircraft, but he was also an aerobatic display pilot at air shows,” he said.
“Also, a qualified instructor and a very accomplished pilot and well-loved.”
Mr Vevers said both men were significant members of the club.
“Peter was the leading light of flight training instruction at the club and was known all around the country and a very respected pilot,” he said.
“And Ido had been part of the fabric of the club and flew every day out of Tyabb and was just a really lovely, peaceful, happy person to be with.”
Mr Segev has been remembered as a loved figure among remote control hobbyists.
Krill model aircraft chief executive Ivo Kryl said he was saddened to hear the news.
“It’s always a tragedy when someone so young, talented, friendly and just a great person leaves,” Mr Kryl said. “He loved all the planes and had a lot of fantastic moments with them . But what he loved became fatal to him.
“Ido will remain in my heart forever as a great friend. I wrote the condolences to his family with whom I know personally. I am shaken by this loss.”
Mooney Takamura, of RC Deput Japan in the USA, said Mr Segev was involved in aerobatic sports in the remote control community.
“He was always friendly to anyone, supporting our brands, I asked him at the end of last year to come back to RC hobby flying and he will start again soon, but that was the last conversation I had with him. He was loved by anyone, great guy, we all surely miss him big time.”
Another tribute read: “Ido was one of a kind, a modest and loved young man, professional and extremely talented with hands of gold.
“He was a world champion RC pilot, a passionate and promising pilot with a bright future ahead of him.
“I had the honor (sic) and privilege of knowing him, and I am heart broken to learn he had died while doing what he loved most — touching the sky.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to his family in this time of sorrow and grief.”
Andrew Ellison also paid tribute to the experienced pilot from the UK.
“Sad to wake up to the news of Ido’s death this morning in a full size plane crash,” he wrote.
“Pilots here may be unaware that they now fly many of the moves he demo’d first. A sad loss for aeromodelling.”
HOW MID-AIR TRAGEDY UNFOLDED
The light planes plunged to earth near Mangalore after colliding 4000ft above sea level near the flight training hotspot yesterday.
Specialist air crash investigators from Victoria, Queensland and the ACT were at the scene last night to begin what shapes as a long and complex inquiry into exactly what went wrong.
One of the planes, a Beechcraft Travel Air, had Peninsula Aero Club chief flying instructor Pete Phillips and another experienced airman, Ido Segev, in the cockpit.
It had left Tyabb Airport at 10.55am and was beginning its descent to Mangalore just before the fatal impact.
At 11.25am, a Piper Seminole was three minutes into its flight after taking off from Mangalore.
The ascending Piper, which was operating on instruments, would have had interrupted visibility because of cloud banks before the collision.
Both aircraft plummeted to the ground, the bodies of those on-board later found inside the wreckage.
One plane crashing near a woolshed and the other in bush 2km away.
A source said the Beechcraft Travel Air “spiralled out of control and nosedived into the ground”.
Two of the victims are foreign nationals, one from Thailand and the other an Israeli deal national.
The young Thai woman was tragically due to fly back to Thailand with her mother today.
The Piper was found 200 metres from the Hume Highway and the Beechcraft 1km from that site.
‘HIT THE GROUND VERY HARD’
Victoria Police Insp. Peter Koger said both planes had clearance from air traffic control to be in the airspace.
The scene was devastating, he said.
“You couldn’t even tell it was an aircraft,” he said of the Mangalore wreckage.
“It is a big tragedy for both families. I know it is a training flight. It is very upsetting for everyone including emergency services who have attended this scene today,” he said.
“It is a tragedy.”
“Neither plane was incinerated, they both hit the ground very hard.
“They (the bodies) were located within the wreckage of the planes unfortunately.”
An aviation expert with 20 years’ experience in the industry, said flight records showed the Mangalore plane took off at 11.20am and the Tyabb one took off at 10.55am.
“The cause of the collision appears to be one climbing into the flight path of the other,” the source said.
“They may have realised at the last minute but by then it was took late.
“It is devastating. It is one of those things where clearly there has been a breakdown in communication.”
FLIGHT CLUB ROCKED BY DEATHS
The Vh-JQF Piper was owned by Moorabbin Aviation Services, but based at Mangalore.
The VH-AEM Beechcraft flew out of Tyabb at 10.55 being flown by Peninsula Aero Club members.
The club was closed on Wednesday in the aftermath of the tragedy.
The Peninsula Aero Club “team” was brought together this afternoon to check on people’s wellbeing and offer them council and support over the incident.
The airport will remain closed for as long as necessary while authorities perform checks.
Staff at Moorabbin Aviation Services locked doors at their training office on Wednesday.
Members of the Second Ave-based flight school appeared to be in shock and told the Herald Sun they were unable to make a comment on the horror smash.
They did not know if the school’s other scheduled flights had been grounded for the day.
PROBE LAUNCHED INTO CRASH TRAGEDY
Air crash investigators will today launch a painstaking probe into what caused the tragic mid-air collision at Mangalore on Wednesday.
Australian Transport Safety Bureau inspectors will arrive at the two crash sites 130km north of Melbourne on Thursday morning and begin their inquiry into what went wrong.
It was Australia’s first mid-air crash in more than a decade.
The crash investigators are on their way to the scene from Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane.
The planes were fitted with Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast equipment, allowing authorities to plot their final movements.
“On site, investigators will examine the wreckage and site surrounds,” ATSB spokesman Gerard Frawley said.
“The ATSB will also analyse available recorded data, review weather information, and interview witnesses.
“A report will be released at the end of the investigation.
“However, should a critical safety issue be identified during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify relevant stakeholders so appropriate and timely safety action can be taken.”
The airspace over Mangalore does not fall under the operation of air traffic control but the CTAF, or common traffic advisory frequency.
That requires incoming and outgoing aircraft to inform each other of their movements.
Mangalore has a busy airport popular with recreational flyers and is also a major aviation training facility with a pilot academy.
Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Peter Gibson said the planes were operating on instruments, meaning the pilots were flying visually and would have lodged flight plans before takeoff.
“We don’t have any explanation of what happened. We can’t speculate on that,” Mr Gibson said.
ATSB investigators with experience in human factors, aircraft operations and maintenance are heading to the scene from Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane.
Mangalore Airport is popular with recreational flyers and is also a major aviation-training facility with a pilot academy.
Mid-air crashes are extremely rare, particularly at the kind of elevation of Wednesday’s incident.
One of the few was at Bankstown in Sydney in 2008 when two people died, but that was at a much lower level.
The ATSB inspectors will first examine the wreckage of both planes for evidence of where they came into contact and for indications of any mechanical faults.
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They will look into flight plans, air traffic control communications, maintenance records and pilot licensing documentation.
The inquiry could take many months.
The ATSB wants to hear from witnesses who saw the two planes on Wednesday or have dashcam footage or CCTV to go to atsb.gov.au/witness or call 1800 992 986.
Originally published as Mangalore plane victim’s son also died in plane crash in 2005
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