Essendon crash pilot boasted he didn’t need a pre-flight checklist

A pilot who boasted he did not need checklists, failed to spot an incorrectly positioned control, resulting in a crash that killed five.

Pilot Max Quartermain, who died when the plane he was flying crashed into Essendon's DFO shopping centre.

A pilot who once boasted that he did not need pre-flight checklists, failed to spot an incorrectly positioned control in his aircraft, resulting in a crash that killed him and four American tourists near Essendon Airport in Melbourne.

Lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in damages will be filed in the wake of the final Australian Transport Safety Bureau report on the crash, on February 21 last year.

Max Quartermain, 67, was at the controls of the Beechcraft King Air B200 on a flight from Essendon to King Island off Tasmania’s northwest coast.

Shortly after a longer than normal takeoff roll, the aircraft was seen to veer sharply to the left as Quartermain repeatedly radioed “mayday”.

After just 10 seconds of flight, the plane crashed into the DFO shopping centre on nearby Bulla Road and burst into flames.

The ATSB report found that the rudder trim of the Beechcraft King Air B200 was in the full nose-left position prior to takeoff, ­causing a loss of directional control that affected the aircraft’s climb.

The report also found the aircraft was 240kg over the maximum takeoff weight, and a tripped “impact switch” for the cockpit voice recorder had not been reset.

ATSB chief commissioner Greg Hood said the rudder-trim position should have been picked up in any of five standard pre-flight checks for the B200.

“There were opportunities in the checklist that existed for the pilot to ensure that the rudder trim was set to neutral, prior to takeoff,” Mr Hood said.

Statements provided by people who had flown with or knew Quartermain indicated he was not always in the habit of consulting checklists during pre-flight ­inspections.

On one occasion, a passenger said he had to prompt Quartermain to close the main cabin door of the aircraft just before takeoff.

 

Another pilot said Quartermain had indicated he did not believe in checklists.

The report also quoted previous correspondence between the ATSB and Quartermain in which he suggested “you don’t need to use a checklist because you are doing it every day”.

In late 2015, following a near miss over Mount Hotham, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority identified Quartermain did not have an approved flight-check system for the B200.

He was also ordered to undergo an instrument-proficiency check, which he failed on the first attempt but passed three weeks later.

Yesterday, Gordon Legal partner Paul Henderson, who is representing the widows of Quartermain’s passengers, said he had recommended they make a claim under the Civil Aviation Carrier’s Liability Act and take a negligence action against the pilot’s ­estate.

Mr Henderson said claims made under the act were capped at a maximum of $725,000, but the negligence action meant there was an opportunity to gain “true compensation” for the widows of Glenn Garland, 67, Greg DeHaven, 70, Russell Munsch, 62, and John Washburn, 67.

“They’re experiencing a range of emotions from frustration to a great sense of sadness and a great sense of loss and, to some degree, anger,” he said.

Lawsuits would be filed in the next 60 days, Mr Henderson said.

A statement from Quartermain’s daughter Melissa said she and her brother were having a “very difficult time coming to terms with losing our dad”.

“We love him dearly and he is missed enormously,” she wrote.

“We will always remember him as the wonderfully loving and proud father, and adoring Papa to his three grandchildren.

“Our lives will never be the same without him.”