Guest David C Posted July 13, 2008 Posted July 13, 2008 A SEARCH has begun for an ultralight aircraft that failed to reach its north Queensland destination today. Police said the ultralight, believed to be carrying two people, was flying in a group of five from Mt Garnett, west of Innisfail, to Charters Towers. Authorities were notified when it failed to arrive at its destination by 2.30pm (AEST). The four other ultralights arrived without incident. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has dispatched a Cairns-based Dornier aircraft and police are contacting local property owners in the search location to help look for the aircraft. Contact was last made with the missing ultralight approximately 50 nautical miles north west of Charters Towers, police said. But a police spokeswoman could not say what time that occurred.
Guest Pabloako Posted July 13, 2008 Posted July 13, 2008 From Brisbane Times (Georgina Robinson | July 14, 2008 - 6:36AM) Low cloud is hampering visibility as the search for a New South Wales couple and their missing ultralight plane gets underway in North Queensland. A helicopter has joined an Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) Dornier aircraft for a second day of aerial searches after the ultralight failed to arrive in Charters Towers yesterday afternoon. The husband and wife team from Kurrajong, north-west of Sydney, were flying in a group of five ultralights from Mt Garnett, west of Innisfail, to Charters Towers. Police said the aircraft lost contact with ground control about 1pm yesterday and did not get to Charters Towers by its expected arrival time of 2.30pm. An AMSA spokesperson said search crews had hoped to dispatch a fixed wing aircraft to join the Dornier and helicopter at first light this morning. However, low-lying cloud had hampered visibility and the second plane remained grounded. "We hope the sun comes up so we can get the fixed wing out there soon," he said. Crews were searching a stretch of "rugged country" more than 50 nautical miles long between Charters Towers and where last contact with the ultralight had been made, the spokesperson said. Police were also contacting local property owners in the search band to help look for the aircraft.
motzartmerv Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 Just heard they have found the acft.. but police havn't said anything about the pilot and pax.. sounds glumm...
Guest pelorus32 Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 News.com.au is reporting that the two people aboard were found dead in the wreckage. A very sad day. Mike
Guest Pabloako Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24016156-952,00.html TWO people have been found dead after their ultra light aircraft crashed into a ridge north of Charters Towers during a two-week Gulf of Carpentaria flying safari in north Queensland. Police located the wreckage of the crashed Zinith Zodiac 601 about 11am after a full-scale two-day air and ground search. Both the pilot and passenger, of Cessnock in New South Wales, are understood to have been killed on impact. Fellow aviators in the club flyout - involving eleven aircraft - were too upset to speak about the loss. Club president Keith Rule told The Courier Mail they had ‘’lost two very good friends’’. He declined to publicly release names of the victims until family have been notified. He said the flying conditions had been perfect and they were at a loss as to what caused the accident.
Mazda Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 Sincere condolences to family and friends. A sad day indeed.
Guest brentc Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 A very sad day. Not a good run for 601 Zodiacs at the moment.
Guest Fred Bear Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 Echoing other comments. Sad indeed. May they RIP and condolences to the families involved.
Guest J430 Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 Good evening all, having just travelled throug the search area anad spoken to people wo have some inside information, not of course verified however given the conditions you would suspect that poking along at 6500' amsl even an engine out would have meant a glide and time to get out a mayday............... None were broadcast. It has been reported first hand at Atherton prior to departure the pilot had been unwell and from discussions here and with a well known RAA personality, the piloy may have been incapacitated. In such a case..... its a shame the wife or PAX could not save themselves. I may well be wrong but this is a sad and likely outcome. J
Guest High Plains Drifter Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 I may well be wrong but this is a sad and likely outcome. Speculation - Just what the family need to read at this time J430
Guest Marius Grobler Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 Oh, man!!! Condolences to the friends and family.
Guest toose70 Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 Hi all, i spoke with one of the guys who is on the trip this afternoon. He mentioned that the pilot had just been speaking on the chat channel a few minutes prior to the next 15min radio check in, and was fine. He then of course failed to radio check, after that which was the inital cause for alarm. The rest of them are coming home tomorrow. They of course do not want to continue the trip. Very sad indeed. Pray for the others safe return :)
Guest bazz107 Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24018065-421,00.html Ultralight crash victims mourned July 14, 2008 05:56pm MEMBERS of a flying club are mourning two members after the wreckage of the couple's ultralight aircraft was found in north Queensland today. The bodies of Clive and Janet Bradburn were found in the wreckage of their Zinith Zodiac 601 when it was located by a search helicopter on a remote cattle property north-west of Charters Towers about 11.30am (AEST) today. The aircraft was one of five ultralights from the Hunter Valley Recreational Flying Club taking part in a two-week trip to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The group was flying from Mt Garnet, west of Innisfail, to Charters Towers yesterday when the plane went missing. Up to eight aircraft searched for the plane when low cloud lifted this morning, before the wreckage was found among trees in the rugged landscape. It took Townsville police three hours to reach the crash site by road, with the forensic crash unit now investigating the cause of the incident. Other members of the flying group have said conditions were slightly overcast but otherwise fine at the time of the flight. Keith Rule, president of the Hunter Valley Recreational Flying Club, was on the trip, and said the club had "lost two very good friends". The couple, believed to be from Cessnock in NSW, had been members of the club for about six years.
Guest J430 Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 HPD Speculation yes, however I doubt that the family are reading this, and if they are, nothing I said was extremely poor taste. I could have rattled off a lot of other details relayed first hand, and that may have stretched it a bit much. The unfortunate facts are also highlighted by the radio sched's which were all fine and nothing was heard there after. You seem quite happy to read the bull:censored: that the media print, yet get some comment based on a few known facts and its "a bit much for the family". Give me a break! If nothing else learned here, teach your wife/husband how to save themselves, or have them tought by a flying school. Its unlikley this was an airframe failure or massive fire on board. J
Guest brentc Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 Irrispective of whether it was a health related incident or not I'm a firm believer in teaching or having taught your other half if they are a frequent flyer with you. Even if it's the basics it might save both of your lives one day. A flying friend of mine was in his Dad's chopper and his Dad passed out. He had no flying experience at the controls other than a bit of a go here and there, however he managed to keep it flying for a while until his Dad came around again. He then headed out and promptly got some flying lessons. They now fly everywhere together.
Guest Marius Grobler Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 This incident - although the exact reasons are still open to debate - has raised awareness of this very important issue. I am therefore of the opinion that my wife and kids would need to learn to land an aircraft safely even if imperfectly. Not, of course, that my flying is perfect but what I mean to say is that they should be able to get it on the ground in more or less one piece in the event of human failure.
motzartmerv Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 The following comments are in response to members comments and not about the accident in question.. I reckon teaching your other half how to keep it up is a good point.. However unless you have an instructor rating it isn't legal to let your pax have a fiddle on the controls, that being said, im sure some upper air joining you on the controls to feel the effects isn't going to get you into any trouble.. Consider getting them 1 or 2 hours training with an instructor and just getting the effects of controls and straight and level under control..Lets face it, in flight pilot incapacitation is a very rare event but still is one of the dangers we need to address.. Bird strike, food poisoning, and undiagnosed medical conditions are but a few of the things that can strike a pilot down.. once again, these comments have nothing to do with the accident being discussed. cheers (and fly safe, for gods sake)
Guest airsick Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 Irrispective of whether it was a health related incident or not I'm a firm believer in teaching or having taught your other half if they are a frequent flyer with you. Even if it's the basics it might save both of your lives one day. Me too. I don't know anyone who has done it (or much else about it for that matter) but the Temora Aero Club runs what they call a POPE course - Partners Of Pilots Emergency. From what I can gather it is run by instructors and could prove handy in an event that none of us really like to think about. It is probably especially relevant to RAA pilots that don't even need a basic medical but still not a bad idea for the GA guys either.
IanR Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 I have not seen any reference to it lately but at least one school at Camden used to offer a "spouse" course teaching them the basics so they could take control in case of pilot incapacitation. Sounds like a great idea to me !
Kaz Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 Again, not commenting on the accident in question as I'm sure no one will ever know the full story of what happened in the cockpit. My thoughts are with the family and friends. As a passenger I think there are other emergency "jobs" that are important too (I'd probably rip the undercarriage out of the CT4 but I could get it on the ground!). In the event of an emergency I know what radio calls to make on what frequencies, which transponder code & how to activate the EPIRB. If the pilot is struggling with operational issues I can get the "little jobs" done. At least someone else will know what's happening and already knows where we are. For a family, the waiting to find an accident site must be the worst feeling in the world. There is an interesting article in Flight Safety this month about medical issues while flying. Might be worthy of a new thread once people have had a chance to read it?
Guest airsick Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 There is an interesting article in Flight Safety this month about medical issues while flying. Might be worthy of a new thread once people have had a chance to read it? Interesting that you mention this Kaz. I was actually thinking of writing to FSA and asking for permission to repoduce the article here or in the RAA mag. I think it is quite a pertinent topic given that there is no medical required for RAA certificate holders.
Yenn Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 While we are mentioning the Flight Safety magazine, the Smith Family story is worth reading and it applies to all of us.
Guest High Plains Drifter Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 I hope nobodys going to suggest full private pilot medicals for Rec av pilots ? A non aviation reader of this thread might think full medicals were a good idea :hittinghead:
Guest Fred Bear Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 I think it is the pilots responsibility (in general and not related to this case) to make sure he/she is fit enough to undertake the said flight.
Guest Flyer40 Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 I have not seen any reference to it lately but at least one school at Camden used to offer a "spouse" course teaching them the basics so they could take control in case of pilot incapacitation. Sounds like a great idea to me ! They still run it periodically. They call theirs PETS: partners emergency training scheme. It's a full day or you could say it's a full-on day alternating between class room and flying. My wife did it. It's not just the flying that makes it worthwhile, it's learning how to dial up area or 121.5 to get help and being able to squawk 7700. The flying component was stripped down to how to fly straight and level and how to put the thing on the ground in a survivable way. She would have done about 20 landings through out the day split between the Citabria and Dakota. I hope that the repetition has filed something away in her subconscious that will serve her well if the need ever arises.
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