Passenger blamed for fatal seaplane crash in Hawkesbury

A fatal seaplane crash outside Sydney may have been caused by a passenger accidentally knocking out the pilot.

The seaplane wreckage is recovered from Jerusalem Bay in Sydneys Hawkesbury River in January. Picture: Richard Dobson.

The new part-owner of Sydney Seaplanes has suggested the fatal crash involving the company on New Year’s Eve may have been caused by the front-seat passenger accidentally knocking out the pilot.

Six people were killed, including five members of one British family, when the de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver floatplane veered off the planned route, made a sharp right turn and nosedived into Jerusalem Bay on the Hawkesbury River, 30km north of ­Sydney.

The victims included Canadian-born pilot Gareth Morgan, 44, British food service multi-­millionaire Richard Cousins, 58, his magazine editor fiance Emma Bowden, 48, and her daughter Heather, 11, and Cousins’s sons William, 25, and Edward, 23.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the crash, which took place in clear conditions just after 3pm. A final report is due early next year.

Hotelier Jerry Schwartz, who this week announced his new partnership with Sydney Seaplanes, said he had complete confidence in the company’s safety record despite the crash.

“The investigation has shown that safety is good and it’s actually believed to not be pilot error,” Mr Schwartz said.

“The current belief is the passenger at the front actually knocked out the pilot.”

The imagined scenario involved the passenger moving about to take photographs of the river and accidentally striking the pilot in the head with his elbow.

Pilot incapacitation has previously been raised by Sydney Seaplanes managing director Aaron Shaw as a possible reason for the crash, because of the ­inexplicable turn the aircraft took beforehand.

“Something definitely happened to the pilot to incapacitate him,” Mr Shaw told The ­Australian, but he said he would await the outcome of the ATSB ­investigation before commenting further.

Among the avenues of investigation being explored by the ATSB, were the “pilot’s qualifi­cations, experience and medical ­information, in addition to several other lines of inquiry”, a spokesman said.

“As this is an active investi­gation, the ATSB is unable to make any comment on specific aspects of the investigation,” he said.

The preliminary report found the aircraft had no obvious mechanical defects or fuel contamination, maintenance was up to the date and the pilot was well qualified with a high standard of health.

Although there was no cockpit voice recorder or flight data ­recorder on the aircraft, the ATSB hoped to find other recorded information from mobile phones, iPads or GoPros.

Once the ATSB investigation is completed, the NSW Coroner is expected to hold an inquest, but no date has been set.

An inquest may also be held in Britain, where the causes of death of five of the victims were made public in February.

Senior Coroner Peter Bedford said post-mortem examinations conducted in Australia found the five British passengers died of ­either head injuries or drowning or a combination of both.

The cause of death of the pilot has not been released.

Mr Bedford suspended his ­investigation to await the outcome of the NSW coronial inquest.

Once that is finished, he will consider whether to hold a full ­inquest in Britain.

Cousins and Bowden lived with her young daughter in Tooting, South London.

The couple was due to be married in July.

Cousins, who was the chief executive of the Compass Group catering firm, left his $75 million fortune to charity group Oxfam.

A year before his death, he added a common tragedy clause to his will, specifying how the estate should be divided in the case that he died alongside his intended beneficiaries.

The bequest is believed to be the largest ever given to Oxfam.