One of two Aussies ‘should not have been at controls’ of plane

A preliminary report into a fatal plane crash in South Africa has suggested one of the two Australian pilots should not have been at the controls.

The wreckage of the Convair 340 after the July 10 crash. Picture: Twitter.

A preliminary report into a fatal plane crash in South Africa has suggested one of the two Aus­tralian pilots should not have been at the controls of the vintage ­Convair 340 aircraft.

The report by the South African Civil Aviation Authority found only one pilot was rated for the Convair, which was being flown for the first time in five months ahead of a trip to its final resting place at a museum in ­Amsterdam.

Recently retired Qantas pilot Ross Kelly and Qantas training pilot Doug Haywood were at the controls of the 64-year-old plane, having flown another Convair from Pretoria to Australia in 2016.

Both pilots were critically injured when just minutes after take-off the plane lost altitude and struck powerlines before crashing into a dairy factory, about 6km from Wonderboom Airport.

South African flight engineer Chris Barnard was killed, and one of four people struck on the ground also died.

Two more passengers were ­seriously injured, including the wife of Mr Kelly, and 14 suffered minor injuries.

Douglas Haywood.

GoPro footage taken inside the plane was used by investigators to piece together the moments leading to the crash, on July 10.

The footage revealed the captain was flying the plane, the first officer was manning the radio and the engineer was operating the ­engine controls.

“Although the aircraft is certified for operation by two pilots, it is not clear why the engineer was ­allowed to operate the engine controls during the operation of the aircraft,” the report says.

Shortly after take-off, a passenger went to the cockpit and told the engineer the left engine was on fire, but according to the report no corrective action was taken.

“The GoPro also shows that the pilots were not sure if they had ­retracted the landing gears as they can be heard asking each other whether the gears are out or not,” the report says. “It also shows that though the pilots and engineer were informed of the left-engine fire, they were asking each other which engine was on fire.

Ross and Lyndal Kelly.

“At no stage did the pilots or the engineer discuss or attempt to ­extinguish the left-engine fire as the fire extinguishing system was never activated.”

The report’s 16 preliminary findings include the fact the flight plan filed was for an airport that was closed for maintenance.

It also found “crew resource management in the cockpit was lacking” and “emergency procedures were not followed”.

“The aircraft flight manual ­requires two pilots to operate the aircraft and both need to be rated on the aircraft; however, the documents and licences made available to investigators indicate only the captain was rated on the aircraft,” the report says.

Aviation sources said the report was only “preliminary” and pointed out neither Mr Kelly nor Mr Haywood had been interviewed.

Both men remain in induced comas as preparations are made to repatriate them to Australia.