Pilot’s frantic calls
THE pilot of the plane which crashed at Essendon Airport killing everyone on board repeatedly radioed “mayday” moments before impact.
It’s understood veteran airman Max Quartermain did not give any indication of what the emergency was.
The air safety watchdog has found “interesting facets” in an initial examination of the wreck and records.
But it won’t reveal any suspected cause, despite speculation the King Islandbound twin-engine Beechcraft suffered catastrophic engine failure after take-off.
An initial report is expected within four weeks. American golfing buddies Greg DeHaven, Glenn Garland, Russell Munsch and John Washburn, on a three-week holiday of a lifetime, were also killed in Tuesday’s crash.
Searchers yesterday combed a closed-off area of the airport at the corner of English St and Wirraway Rd.
Investigators were expected to remain for several days.
Australian Transport Safety Bureau chief commissioner Greg Hood said the probe would examine all possible causes of the crash.
“My understanding is that he didn’t refer to the specific nature of the emergency and he declared mayday and said that a number of times,’’ Mr Hood said yesterday.
“Obviously that can relate to a number of things that can go wrong. While in the initial walk-through ... we discovered some interesting facets, we really need to gather all the evidence and conduct the analysis.”
Mr Quartermain was involved in a close call in 2015 when his B200 King Air came within a nautical mile of another in bad weather at Mt Hotham. He had an otherwise clear safety record in 30-plus years of flying.
The plane involved in the Essendon crash began takeoff at 8.59am before veering left and hitting the roof of the DFO homemaker centre and crashing in a deadly fireball.
Central Queensland University Associate Professor Geoff Dell, an air safety investigator for more than 35 years, said it was possible the plane’s left engine failed and the propeller didn’t feather, causing significant drag, or that both engines suffered a partial failure.