Chopper speed a mystery

THE findings of the inquiry into last year's fatal Black Hawk crash off Fiji will not be known for months but it is already clear that one of the key mysteries of the incident - why the ill-fated helicopter was travelling so fast in the seconds before the disaster - will never be resolved.

THE findings of the inquiry into last year's fatal Black Hawk crash off Fiji will not be known for months but it is already clear that one of the key mysteries of the incident - why the ill-fated helicopter was travelling so fast in the seconds before the disaster - will never be resolved.

Yesterday, on the final day of the seven-week hearing, the army aviation commander who oversaw the training mission said he did not know why Captain Mark Bingley appeared to be flying in an "aggressive" manner before the crash, despite instructions to fly "conservatively".

"Only Captain Bingley can answer that question," the commander, codenamed Major 3, told the inquiry.

David Levine QC, the retired judge who is heading the military board of inquiry, added: "That answer will never be known and can never be known." Black Hawk 221 plunged to the ocean floor after crashing on to the deck of the HMAS Kanimbla on November 29 last year. Bingley and SAS Trooper Joshua Porter died.

Closing submissions will be presented to the board at the end of the month, after which Justice Levine will have five months to prepare his report.