Pilot was held in high esteem
THE Otago Aero Club has paid tribute to the generous and hardworking member who died in Sunday’s plane crash near Middlemarch.
Murray Barrington died when the RANS S19 Venterra aircraft he and another man were in crashed at Welshman’s Creek, northeast of Middlemarch, on Sunday morning.
The 73yearold was a member of the Otago Aero Club for several years, having attained his full licence in May last year, and in 2015 gave $60,000 to restore the club’s 80yearold main hangar.
‘‘A couple of years ago the roof on the clubrooms required replacing and funding was found to do this,’’ president Colin Chalmers said.
‘‘This was not enough for Murray, who decided the main hangar also required maintenance and decorating. He and [wife] Averill then made a large donation to the club to allow the work to be done.
‘‘Murray has high standards and was always there to make sure the work that was done met those standards.
‘‘Murray went out of his way to be helpful. When school groups wanted to visit the airfield, Murray would organise the viewing of aircraft and make sure everyone had a sit in a plane and a feel of the controls.
‘‘He believed that giving youngsters the exposure to flying would encourage them into aviation later. There was little he wouldn’t do to foster flying.
‘‘It is difficult to describe just how much work he did for the club as it was done in his quiet, unassuming manner.’’
Mr Barrington built his RANS aircraft from a kitset he ordered after flying in one at an air show in 2010.
‘‘The aircraft took him three years to build and was a labour of love,’’ Mr Chalmers said.
‘‘The aircraft was beautifully built and flew brilliantly on its first flight.
‘‘He is going to be missed by both the aero club and the flying fraternity in general. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends.’’
Mr Barrington’s family did not want to comment at present.
His funeral will be held at Hope and Sons Chapel at 12.30pm tomorrow.
A flyover at the Taieri Airfield is planned to honour Mr Barrington.
Mr Chalmers said the man injured in the crash was recovering well following surgery.
‘‘At the moment he’s doing very well,’’ he said.
It was expected he would be discharged from hospital shortly.
A Civil Aviation Authority spokeswoman said investigators had carried out a scene examination on Tuesday, and yesterday interviewed witnesses and others able to assist in the investigation.
‘‘The investigation aims to identify any safety lessons from this accident to help prevent future accidents,’’ she said.
‘‘If any critical safety issues emerge during the investigation they will be communicated to the aviation sector immediately.
‘‘We don’t have a timeframe at this stage for how long the whole investigation will take.’’
timothy.brown@odt.co.nz