Aircraft ‘should not have been where it was’ when it crashed into Jerusalem Bay on the Hawkesbury river, killing six people

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The operator of the seaplane that crashed north of Sydney on New Year’s Eve, killing six people including a leading British businessman, has said the aircraft “should not have been where it was”.

The DHC-2 Beaver aircraft, operated by Sydney Seaplanes, crashed into Jerusalem Bay on the Hawkesbury river after taking off from Cottage Point in north Sydney for a scenic flight to Rose Bay.

Sydney seaplane tragedy: same model involved in 2015 crash that killed second family Read more

Richard Cousins, 58, chief executive of the FTSE100 company Compass, was killed along with his fiancee, Emma Bowden, 48, her daughter Heather, 11, and his sons Edward, 23, and Will, 25. The pilot, Gareth Morgan, a 44-year-old Canadian, was also killed.

The expected flight path should have seen Morgan taxi away from Cottage Point, take off and turn east to gain altitude over the Hawkesbury river.

Instead, he turned northwest and, flying below the height of the mountainous terrain, entered Jerusalem Bay and made a sharp right-hand turn before the plane dropped nose-down into the water.

Aaron Shaw, chief executive of Sydney Seaplanes, said that the key question from an initial Australian Transport Safety Bureau report released on Wednesday was why the plane crashed in an area surrounded by steep terrain and with no exit.

“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 in a statement on Wednesday.



“The aircraft is then reported to have entered into an 80 to 90-degree bank angle turn.



“A turn of this nature at low altitude by a pilot with Gareth’s skills, experience and intimate knowledge of the location is totally inexplicable.”

Play Video 0:59 Seaplane raised from Sydney river after New Year's Eve fatal crash – video

The report found “no evidence of a bird strike or collision with an object prior to take-off or in-flight” and witnesses said the plane sounded “normal”.

“Shortly after entering Jerusalem Bay, numerous witnesses reported seeing the aircraft suddenly enter a steep right turn and the aircraft’s nose suddenly drop before the aircraft collided with the water in a near vertical position,” the report said. “The aircraft came to rest inverted and with the cabin submerged.”

There was no evidence of control issues, an in-flight breakup or pre-impact structural damage. The damage to the plane’s wings when it crashed was consistent with witness statements that it hit the water while banking right, the ATSB said.

The ATSB’s executive director, Nat Nagy, said the investigation would examine whether anyone on board suffered a medical episode. The ATSB was still waiting on autopsy reports from the coroner.

While engine and propeller experts were working to rule out less obvious mechanical faults the investigation would now focus on Morgan’s actions moments before the crash, Nagy said.

“One of the key lines of inquiry, for us now, is to work out exactly what was happening throughout that time,” he told reporters in Sydney.

“Firstly, why the pilot turned that way, and then whether it was an attempt to turn around or whether it was a planned turn as well.”

The seaplane had no cockpit voice or flight data recorder fitted as there was no legal requirement for a plane of that size. There were no video recorders fitted.

Sydney Seaplanes said it hoped the ATSB’s call for more witness accounts would help shed light on the cause of the crash.

Aircraft engineer Michael Greenhill said he had in the past seen some pilots fly into the bay.

“It’s not an everyday occurrence but, from time to time, they use the bay to turn around,” he said.

Greenhill said the tailwind mentioned in the ATSB report would have made it harder to complete such a low-speed, low-altitude turn.

“[I’m] not sure why he was there this day,” he said. “Sounds like to tight a turn with not enough airspeed to me … with a headwind he may have been fine.”

The investigation is ongoing and the ATSB says it will take several months.