davidc95

What a terrifying sequence of events. A timely reminder for our summer flying that aircraft have no place near thunderstorms (although I'm sure that is easier said then done in the NT) . The updrafts of a maturing storm cell would wreak havoc on any light aircraft.

That must be the 3rd this week! I was speaking with a friend about the GA crash in Darwin when this one came on 9 news.

I won't speculate on the cause of the crash but I will say that I went to school with one of the pilots of the ill-fated aircraft and shared a few mutual friends with him. He had a reputation as an enthusiastic and charismatic individual with a good aptitude for flying. The local community has been quite shaken by this accident and its hit quite close to home for me as well. I hope the ATSB can bring us some closure.

Does anyone in Bundaberg know what happened to Hinkler Flying School? While I was spending a few weeks up there in 2014 I did some flight training with Max in his fleet of Jabiru LSAs. Found him to be an extremely professional instructor and a genuinely charismatic person.

Lol, you forgot to turn 0.03% into a decimal. Its 90000 x 0.03/100 = 27. Jabiru would cease to exist with 2700 engine failures.

I think CASA's intervention is reasonable, Jabiru needs to change if it is to survive in the dwindling Australian aviation industry. They have developed a fantastic airframe and have made flying affordable, but now is the time to address their issues, rather then picking a fight against CASA by claiming they are being unfairly treated. I'm bothered that CASA didn't communicate their proposal with RA Aus. In fact, I'm bothered with the administrative mess that Australia's aviation sector finds itself in. RA is in a financial and administrative crisis which they continue to play down, CASA is trying to weed them out with the introduction of their RPL, and now the aircraft of choice for RA flying has been officially shamed by CASA. Maybe its time I switched to GA? If you can't beat em, join em!

Case closed.

I guess that is sort-of good news. Do you have a source?

The pic was outdated. But how did you know I had a picture last night if you only joined today?

Trooper63, you joined Recreational Flying today and this was the first thread you commented on...

Also how did this hoax even work out? Surely a transmitter on the ground wouldn't have a hope in hell of communicating with Brissie Centre. It would have to have been done offshore or in the air.

Reading it now, definitely a hoax. The Wedgetail pilot did sound the same as the presumably-dead pilot, did not appear on the radar, would not respond to Rescue 500s calls and had no idea what he was talking about. How this passes as humor is beyond me, hopefully some jail time comes out of this. Gotta commend ATC for their professionalism.

Haha, so it is either a hoax, a training drill or a massive conspiracy ? I've been listening to liveatc.net for ages and never heard a training drill with this much sophistication.

If it was a training drill, it was a very detailed one

If you guys don't believe me, you can download a snippet of the liveatc.net recordings yourself. I do not have the free time to make up a hoax ATC recording. Download at http://www.liveatc.net/archive.php, choose YBBN Grd/Tow/App/Dep and choose zulu time of around 13:00.

Here is a recording for 13:00- 13:30 GMT: https://www.dropbox.com/s/o0j1saz74x7mlhs/YBBN6-Oct-27-2014-1300Z.mp3?dl=0

I also have recordings for 14:00-14:30 GMT https://www.dropbox.com/s/4fgfx3cnhn5011m/YBBN6-Oct-27-2014-1400Z.mp3?dl=0 and 14:30-15:00 GMT https://www.dropbox.com/s/s2deqqdmm63jiys/YBBN6-Oct-27-2014-1430Z.mp3?dl=0

Ok this is definitely no joke and I am not crazy. This is the recording of Brisbane Centre between 13:30GMT and 14:00 GMT (thanks to liveatc.net/archive). Please download and listen for yourselves, things go very bad around the 10 minute mark: https://www.dropbox.com/s/u387hz4392ulcn9/YBBN6-Oct-27-2014-1330Z.mp3?dl=0

It may sound that way but I swear it isn't. This is the flight plan of Singapore Airlines 246 last night. You can see it was diverted via Bribie Island: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SIA246/history/20141027/1345Z/YBBN/WSSS

Ok I'm off to bed, very upset from tonight's events and hoping for some news in the morning. Here is a summary of what happened based upon my monitoring of Brisbane Centre: - The Cessna aircraft initially reported itself as lost-in-cloud with structural damage and a burning smell in the cabin. Not sure what caused all this as that was never stated. - The aircraft tracked north where another aircraft reported the skies were clearer, so the pilot could descend below the cloud base. Despite this the pilot did not appear to know where he was. - The pilot and the controller spent some time talking while Brisbane Centre attempted to get the aircraft on the radar. The controller got a return on the aircraft around Bribie Island. so the pilot spent some time contemplating whether to land at Caloundra or Sunshine Coast airport. - Things seemed like they would work out for a while but over time the pilot became concerned about the structural integrity of the aircraft for landing (he reported sloppy flight controls), and seemed to become consumed by stress. The controller did a very good job at calming the pilot but in the end the pilot became very delusional and seemed unable to answer simple questions. - The pilot then reported an engine fire which he suppressed with a fire-retardant. Shortly after, he reported smoke in the cabin and claimed he could no longer see the instrument panel. The controller suggested opening the window and applying an oxygen mask, to no intelligible response. - There was silence for a few minutes before some inaudible transmissions were broadcast from the aircraft. - The final transmission I heard was at around 11pm, the pilot broadcast: "We're gone, we're gone, tell em I love em!". This transmission was very clear and loud. - Brisbane Centre spent the next half an hour attempting to contact the aircraft with no response. - Brisbane Departures rerouted a Toll Express aircraft and Singapore Airlines aircraft via Bribie Island to look for a crash site and intercept an emergency beacon. The Toll Express aircraft reported nothing but Singapore Airlines claimed it heard a transmission on the emergency frequency. - There was some brief chatter that two commercial aircraft were speaking with the downed aircraft on the emergency frequency. Someone definitely mentioned "we spoke with him to the end" but that may have been the controller. - Around 1am a Wedgetail aircraft from Amberley, and Rescue 500 from Brisbane, departed for the Bribie Island area. The Wedgetail aircraft didn't stay long and neither did Rescue 500, although the Wedgetail aircraft reported that they were speaking with a boat which led me to believe the aircraft had been downed in in water. That was all, Resuce 500 returned to Archerfield around 1:30am.

Rescue 500 returned to base around 1am this morning.

A Wedgetail aircraft is coordinating with Rescue 500 at this time but they are not communicating any specific details on the Brisbane Centre frequency.

Mixed reports but a Virgin aircraft is saying that the pilot is communicating on 121.5.

Rescue 500 has been deployed to the East of Bribie Island to search for the aircraft.

Reports are suggesting a signal was broadcast on 121.5 for a short time, and the aircraft crashed into the water.