Light plane crash Redesdale Vic 13/09/24 One dead.

[turboplanner]

4 hours ago, FlyBoy1960 said:

you just can't say do a proper weight and balance. You have to rely that the manufacturer is giving you the correct information to start with. If they are not giving you the correct information what ability do they have to make sure the design complies with such a basic and important calculation.   I would say  RUN

 

Good point.

It's easy to set your own datums then weigh (dry) the empty aircraft, and using WD equations add each mass and get a result equal to any tolerance you set. Problem is if you don'tr have a correct performance envelope supplied by the manufacturer for the aircraft - you're in the dark and wasting your time.

[turboplanner]

3 hours ago, BrendAn said:

That would be pretty rare .

Yes relatively rare, but it fits in with the ATSB perameter of return on investment. The State Police investigate RA fatalities and produce confidential reports to the Coroners and sometimes the Coroner Reports are educational in terms of learning how to avoid a repeat. RAA investigates/takes reports from the minor accidents, and we would gain a lot more safety knowledge if RAA upgraded their investigations.

[onetrack]

Just to put a name to this crash and to flesh out the man, the gent was Mark Andrew Freestone. His story could be any one of us, he loved motorbikes and flying, and life in general.

He did a lot in his 62 years. His funeral streaming link is below, he was obviously admired and well thought of, not the "cowboy" one immediately expects from air crash events.

Maybe, as many motorcyclists do, he liked pushing the boundaries of performance. We just have to remember that aircraft are very unforgiving of pushing the limits.

 

Mark Andrew Freestone | Vivid Stream

WWW.VIVIDSTREAM.COM.AU

---

Mark Andrew Freestone

 

 

[facthunter]

ALWAYS very SAD when it happens.  I've had some extreme wind events LUCK  played a part in but I'd already put all I had into it.. IF wind had anything to do with it That aspect will get worse.  Hot day, unstable atmosphere at low levels. Localised HOT reduces lift. (Lower air density).  Gusts=. airspeed fluctuations. Always be ready with the throttle.  Nev

[Thruster88]

Is anything known regarding the cause or the failure of the parachute to deploy properly? 

[Neil_S]

17 hours ago, Thruster88 said:

Is anything known regarding the cause or the failure of the parachute to deploy properly? 

Hi T88,

 

As it had numbers on the fuselage and not letters there was no ATSB investigation, so no cause has been determined.

There is no evidence that the chute failed to deploy properly, it appears to have been deployed too late. 

 

Cheers,

Neil

[440032]

Numbers or letters makes no difference at all, ATSB won't investigate most accidents in the sport aircraft world. Very selective, very few.

[onetrack]

As previously talked about, ATSB has a limited budget, and limitations on the number of investigators with the necessary skills, and only investigates aircraft crashes if something new is to be learned, that benefits owners or pilots, or is in the general public safety interest.

 

When simple pilot error is strongly indicated to be the reason behind the crash, there is little to be gained by conducting an exhaustive crash investigation, that only concludes the pilot made a basic aircraft handling error - exactly the same as many others did, before that crash. 

[Neil_S]

21 hours ago, onetrack said:

As previously talked about, ATSB has a limited budget, and limitations on the number of investigators with the necessary skills, and only investigates aircraft crashes if something new is to be learned, that benefits owners or pilots, or is in the general public safety interest.

 

When simple pilot error is strongly indicated to be the reason behind the crash, there is little to be gained by conducting an exhaustive crash investigation, that only concludes the pilot made a basic aircraft handling error - exactly the same as many others did, before that crash. 

Hi Onetrack,

 

I understand that, but in this instance there is no indication that there was any "simple pilot error". He was flying along in the cruise at 4000 ft a short distance behind his brother in another aircraft and then suddenly he was at a few hundred feet pulling the chute.

A few weeks later a GA aircraft ran off a runway and pilot and passenger escaped unhurt - yet the ATSB are investigating that. Also the sad accident where a young instructor took a couple of mates up in his newly-acquired GA plane and flew circles around the mate's house , lost control and crashed is also being investigated by the ATSB - yet I think we can agree this will not reveal anything new about flying circles low and heavy around a point. So I'm afraid the argument about only investigating fatal crashes where something new can be learnt does NOT apply. 

 

Cheers,

Neil

[BurnieM]

How do you know there is nothing to be learned unless you do a preliminary onsite investigation of all aviation incidents ?

Not taking about a team of people for multiple months, just 1 guy onsite for 24 hours.

Yes this also costs.

 

If you are the CEO of a government safety organisation that is underfunded why are you not being very loud ?

[pmccarthy]

This one was suggestive of a bird strike. 

[CT9000]

I understand now discounted.

[Neil_S]

19 hours ago, pmccarthy said:

This one was suggestive of a bird strike. 

 

...or unregistered drone, or even model aircraft......or possibly some sudden structural failure........we will never find out.

[facthunter]

IF you know what to look for, examination of the wreckage will tell a lot. Nev

[Neil_S]

8 hours ago, facthunter said:

IF you know what to look for, examination of the wreckage will tell a lot. Nev

Exactly. And who would be best placed to do that? Let me think..........

[T510]

On 08/03/2025 at 10:12 AM, Neil_S said:

 

...or unregistered drone, or even model aircraft......or possibly some sudden structural failure........we will never find out.

Only commercially operated drones require registration, and even then there is virtually no enforcement of the rules until something goes wrong.

 

You can even fly a drone up to 150kg over your own land with a basic RePL remote pilots licence.

 

There are so many recreational drones out there it isn't funny.

[facthunter]

Neil, SOMEONE properly trained for the Job. They used to be around.  Nev

[spacesailor]

A ban on private drones should work !.

If a child is caught flying a drone  then confiscate dads car . ( make the kids walk to school )

Lucky me my kids don't borrow my drones .

spacesailor