THE Australian Transport Safety Bureau is yet to hand down its full report into the Angel Flight plane crash north of Mount Gambier 12 months ago.
Today sadly marks the one year anniversary of the aviation disaster that tragically took the lives of Mount Gambier mother Tracy Redding, 43, her daughter Emily, 16, and Mount Barker pilot Grant Gilbert, 78.
At exactly 10.23am, the SOCATA TB-10 Tobago plummeted into a paddock at Suttontown – shattering the lives of two families and sending shockwaves across the state’s aviation fraternity.
While the national safety regulator released a preliminary report in July last year, the full probe into the devastating aviation accident is yet to be released.
According to a statement released yesterday, the ATSB is “continuing” its investigation into the tragedy.
“The evidence collection phase has now concluded and the investigation is currently in the examination and analysis phase,” an ATSB spokesperson said.
“This phase requires reviewing complex sets of data, which may prompt the collection of more evidence, which in turn needs to be analysed and examined, potentially adding to the length of an investigation.”
Transport safety investigators have recovered and examined aircraft components from the accident site and electronic data, including pilot transmissions from the common traffic advisory frequency for Mount Gambier Airport, GPS data and closed circuit television footage from the airport.
Investigators have also examined the aircraft’s maintenance documentation, as well as the weather conditions at the time of the occurrence.
“The pilot’s qualifications and experience have been reviewed, as well as the coordination and planning of the flight,” the spokesperson said.
In addition to a review of similar accidents, investigators are also reviewing all existing aviation safety data related to community service flights for non-emergency medical purposes by voluntary or charitable organisations.
This involves examination of all available safety information from the ATSB aviation occurrence database and information on the planning, coordination and oversight from the voluntary and charitable organisations.
“Once the draft report is completed, it will be provided to directly involved parties for 30 days for comment on the factual content. The final report is anticipated for release in the fourth quarter of this year,” the national bureau said.
“As with all of our investigations, should we identify a critical safety issue at any point in the investigation, we will immediately notify relevant parties.”
The accident occurred just 2km from the Mount Gambier Airport’s departure runway.
According to the five-page preliminary report, just after take-off the private charity aircraft veered to the left of the runway at an altitude of about 300ft above mean sea level and reached a maximum altitude of about 500ft.
The last recorded information – about 65 seconds after take-off – showed the aircraft en route to Adelaide at an altitude of 400ft.
No emergency calls were recorded during flight and the aircraft was not equipped with a flight data recorder or cockpit voice recorder, which was not required.
Transmissions from the pilot on approach and take-off were recorded on the common traffic advisory frequency for Mount Gambier Airport.
“Minutes after impact the aircraft was found by witnesses passing the accident site and emergency services responded to the scene shortly thereafter,” the report stated.
On-site examination of the wreckage and surrounding ground markings indicated the aircraft impacted terrain at about “30° from vertical in an inverted attitude”.
According to the investigators, the engine and propeller were located at the initial impact point.
“The fuselage and remainder of the aircraft had detached from the engine at the firewall and came to rest in an upright position about 10m beyond the engine, with the tail and wings attached,” the document said.
The wings had sustained significant impact damage to the leading edge.
The Redding family declined to speak with The Border Watch regarding today’s anniversary.
