Crash report finds pilot was ‘normal, upbeat and happy’ on day of the crash and no evidence of a birdstrike or in-flight breakup

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A report into a New Year’s Eve seaplane crash that killed five Britons and the Canadian pilot in Australia has found there were no pre-existing issues with the plane or the pilot’s mental state as images from the final journey were released.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) released its interim report into the 2017 incident on Thursday but found no immediate cause while investigations continue. Images taken by passengers using a camera and a phone that helped piece together the last journey were also published.

A final report, to be released next year, will contain analysis, recommendations and potential further information on whether the plane was flying an unauthorised route when it crashed.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A photo taken by a passenger during a seaplane trip on the Hawkesbury River in Australia. Photograph: ATSB

The DHC-2 Beaver seaplane crashed into the Hawkesbury River on New Year’s Eve in 2017, killing all six people on board.

The flight took off from Cottage Point in Sydney’s north at 3.12pm and was heading to Rose Bay in the city’s east when it took a steep right turn at low altitude and crashed into the water of Jerusalem Bay.

British businessman Richard Cousins, 58, his fiancee, Emma Bowden, 48, her daughter Heather, 11, and his sons Edward, 23, and Will, 25, were killed. The pilot, Gareth Morgan, a 44-year-old Canadian, was also killed.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A passenger photograph taken through the front windscreen while taxiing to the designated take-off area. Photograph: ATSB

In January, the chief executive of Sydney Seaplanes, Aaron Shaw, said the plane had taken an unconventional and unauthorised route. “It is not a route we authorise in our landing and takeoff area register and the plane simply should not have been where it was,” he said at the time.

On Thursday, the interim report said the ATSB was reviewing the routes “typically taken by other pilots” on the same journey, but this would be included only in the final report.

Sydney seaplane location 'totally inexplicable' before crash, operator says Read more

The final report will also have more information on the pilot’s health and medical history – after the ATSB’s executive director, Nat Nagy, said in January the bureau would investigate whether anybody on board suffered a medical episode.

However, all information in Thursday’s report said the pilot was healthy, physically fit and “normal, upbeat and happy”. On the morning of the flight, he spoke to a long-term friend in Canada and had a positive conversation “about his future personal and career plans”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Richard Cousins and Emma Bowden were among those who died in the crash. Composite: Facebook /

He had a total of 10,762 hours of flight experience, with 9,000 of those on seaplanes, and had flown 780 flights to and from Cottage Point. He had also conducted seven flights that day.

The report also found there was no evidence of a birdstrike or in-flight collision, no in-flight breakup of the plane and no pre-existing defects.

The plane had been inspected on 6 November and had its engine changed, and inspected again on 11 December and given the all-clear after two minor maintenance changes.

Test of the fuel found no issues and there was no indication of carbon monoxide in the cabin.

There were also no cockpit voice recorders because they are not mandatory for the size of plane flown that day.

The report also found there were standard weather conditions at the time of the crash, and witnesses who saw the plane said its engine sounded “constant and normal”.