Two Lost In Apparent In-flight Breakup
A BAC 167 Strikemaster, flown by private Australian company Jet
Fighter Flights, evidently broke apart in mid-air on Thursday,
killing the pilot and his passenger.
Authorities believe the owner of Jet Fighter Flights, Nick
Costin, was the pilot of the vintage warbird. His passenger, Shane
O'Donoghue, was on a joyflight given as a 50th birthday present by
his wife and children.
The flight would have included military style briefings and
simulated bomb-runs. The family was at the airport when the
aircraft was reported missing, according to the Syndey Morning
Herald.
Authorites say Costin, an ex-Royal Air Force (RAF) and
experienced aerobatic pilot, may have been performing a low-level
maneuver when part of the tail broke off. Sections of the tail were
found almost a kilometer from the wreckage, which burst into flames
upon impact, sparking a brushfire, reported the Daily
Telegraph.
The Strikemaster's predecessor, the Jet Provost, was first
used by the RAF in 1953 as a basic jet trainer. The plane was
updated as a fighter-bomber and used by dozens of nations in the
50's and 60's. Costin's company is believed to own three of the
jets, according to The Age of Australia. The planes were acquired
from New Zealand and Singapore. The New Zealand Air Force struck
the planes from its roster when fatigue cracks were found in the
wings.
Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA)
confirmed the aircraft was originally fitted with ejection seats,
but they were disarmed on the Strikemaster, mainly due to safety
and liability issues relating to the explosive charges used in the
system.
A CASA spokesman, quoted in The Age said: "The rules require the
passenger to actually sign a legal waiver to recognize the
uniqueness of the aircraft, that it's an ex-military aircraft
manufactured and maintained to military standards not to civilian
standards operated outside normal civilian aviation
environment."
"Maintenance standards are different, whether they are higher or
lower is a bit harder to say but they're certainly not the same as
civilian standards and if we applied the normal civilian commercial
standards to these aircraft, they wouldn't be operating, because of
the uniqueness of the types of aircraft ex-military the two regimes
aren't compatible," the spokesman added.
Thursday's accident was the second involving a vintage warbird
in as many weeks. As ANN reported, a
private L-29 warbird went down in Capetown, South Africa
September 22.