Taken seconds from death ... seaplane crash victim’s pictures aid tragedy probe
PHOTOS taken by one of the British victims of a seaplane crash in Sydney on New Year’s Eve are helping investigators piece together the final tragic moments.
Pictures taken just before the aircraft plummeted into the water have been recovered from a digital camera found in the wreckage, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said in a report published yesterday.
Richard Cousins, the 58-year-old chief executive of FTSE 100 company Compass Group, died alongside his sons, Will and Edward, aged 25 and 23, his fiancee Emma Bowden, 48, and her 11-year-old daughter Heather Bowden-Page.
Investigators said police had been able to reenact part of the flight using images from the Canon camera.
Several witness statements were also gathered to determine the final path the aircraft had taken.
The de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver was not fitted with a black box flight recorder.
Investigators said part of their inquiry would consider whether all small passenger planes should carry one.
A preliminary report earlier this year said the plane had hit an area of water away from the expected flight path, crashing in a near-vertical position.
Inexplicable
At the time Aaron Shaw, chief executive of operator Sydney Seaplanes, said the aircraft “simply should not have been where it was” and that the manoeuvres prior to the crash were “inexplicable”.
The latest report from the ATSB said the aircraft had entered Jerusalem Bay, some 25 miles north of Sydney, at a lower altitude than the height of the surrounding terrain.
Witnesses said the plane made a steep right turn before its nose suddenly dropped and the aircraft crashed.
Pilot Gareth Morgan, 44, who was also killed in the crash last year, had more than 10,000 hours of flying experience and had flown at least 780 flights from Cottage Point where the plane had taken off from.
Investigators said no preexisting issues with the plane were found, while examination of the wreckage also indicated that there was no evidence of a bird strike or collision with an object before or during the flight.
The ATSB said its investigation would now look at “a number of factors surrounding the pilot’s health and medical history”.
A final report, which will include any findings or recommendations, is expected to be released in the first half of next year. Photos taken from the plane, with the one, right, just before impact. Victims included Heather, 11, mum Emma, Richard Cousins and pilot Gareth Morgan