Heroes heartbroken by tragic deaths
FISHING mates who risked their lives in an attempt to save six people trapped in an ill- fated seaplane have revealed it hit the water nose- first before flipping onto its roof.
Todd Sellars, 32, and his friends dived again and again into the waters of Jerusalem Bay, north of Sydney, to try to open the doors and release British millionaire Richard Cousins, his family and pilot Gareth Morgan. But the plane took less than five minutes to sink and the men gave up only as the water became thick with aviation fuel and there was danger of an explosion.
“I couldn’t get the doors open because I kept running out of air,” fatherof- three Mr Sellars said yesterday.
“It was awful because we knew people were in there and we couldn’t get them out. The police said that we did all we could because they had probably suffered catastrophic injuries and been killed in the crash.”
As the Sydney Seaplanes’ de Havilland Canada DHC- 2 Beaver took off from Cottage Point Inn about 3.15pm on New Year’s Eve, Mr Sellars, Lachlan Hewitt, Kurt Bratby and Will McGovern were having beers on a houseboat they had hired with nine friends for four days.
On board the plane were Mr Morgan, Mr Cousins, 58, his sons William, 25, and Ed, 23, his fiancee Emma Bowden, 48, and her 11- year- old daughter Heather, all heading back to Rose Bay after lunch.
“We heard the plane, it was coming in low,” Mr Sellars said. “As the plane fell out of the sky it made a huge noise.”
He said the engine had not cut out as the seaplane ploughed into the water and flipped over.
They had been planning to go wake boarding but he said he ripped off his shirt and, with Mr Hewitt and Mr Bratby, jumped into the tinny while Mr McGovern stayed at the controls of the houseboat.
“It took us less than 60 seconds to get there,” he said.
“The plane was upside down and the pontoons were filling with water.”
A nurse, Tash Sharwood, who was part of the houseboat group, joined them on another tinny in case the plane passengers needed first aid. It was too late.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Canadian aviation experts recommended all DHC- 2 Beaver seaplanes flying within its borders be fitted with a stall warning system after a fatal crash that killed another UK family two years ago.
It is understood that the Sydney Seaplanes’ aircraft involved in Sunday’s accident was not fitted with a stall warning system.