Commuter Plane Slams Into Hill
A Metroliner crashed midday Saturday in far north Queensland,
claiming the lives of two pilots and 13 passengers. A rescue
helicopter crew located the wreckage about four hours after contact
was lost. (file photo below)
"The observations from people within the helicopter is that it
is highly unlikely that anyone would have survived the crash. The
impact is very severe," said Cairns Police Acting Superintendent
Michael Keating according to The Age.
"It's an impossible area, the terrain is very steep," said
Keating. "The crash is on the side of a rather steep hill and it's
that combination of the site, and the prevailing weather
conditions, which has made it impossible at this stage for us to
get people on the ground."
The aircraft, reportedly operating as a commuter with Aero
Tropics Air Services, was flying a regularly scheduled trip. The
plane had left Bamaga, an Aboriginal community 40 km from the tip
of the Cape York Peninsula, and crashed 9 km north of the Lockhart
River airport.
Weather was at the time of the accident was poor, with low
clouds, rain, and 20 knot winds. The pilot had spoken with ATC just
four minutes before its scheduled arrival of 11:45 a.m. and was
preparing to land.
"It was a matter of minutes, probably, before the impact
occurred that the pilot was in communication with others," said
Keating. "It was just a general communication between pilots
… there is no indication at this stage of any distress from
the pilot or the crew."
"We know that the weather at the time was terrible, but whether
that actually did contribute to the accident is an unknown at this
stage," said Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) spokesman Peter
Gibson to Sky News.
Most of those on board the plane were believed to be from
far north Queensland. Victims include ten male passengers, three
female passengers, and the male flightcrew.
"Regrettably, one of the passengers is a police officer, so this
tragic circumstance has some real implications and some
difficulties for police at the scene," said Keating. "Our
sympathies go out to those people that are involved in this
situation, and their families, and we can assure them that we are
doing everything humanly and physically possible to resolve this
problem as quickly as we can."
Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigators are on
their way, and will be in the area on Sunday. They'll proceed to
the crash site as soon as heavy rain and strong winds subside.