Mon, Mar 24, 2008
Coroner Says Others Should Heed Lessons Learned
Take your pick. An inquest into the January 2006 downing of a
skydiving plane in Queensland, Australia uncovered a wide range of
safety discrepancies and oversights, a number of which likely
contributed to the crash that killed five of the seven people
onboard.
Among the concerns heard by the panel at Maidstone in Kent
included smoke seen billowing from the Cessna U206H (accident
aircraft shown above) as it took the runway for takeoff;
substandard fuel in the plane's tanks; a pilot who lacked the
proper certification to conduct commercial skydiving flights;
passenger restraints loosely fastened to the plane's floor; and an
aircraft loaded 200 pounds over its gross weight.
As ANN reported, six
skydivers and their pilot were onboard the single-engine Cessna.
Five of those persons, including the pilot, were killed when the
plane failed to gain altitude on takeoff, and impacted a dam less
than a half-mile from the airport.
Two survivors -- including the owner of Brisbane Skydiving
Centre, Brian Scoffell -- were able to escape the sinking
wreckage.
The hearing also found none of the skydivers onboard were
wearing helmets, reports The Scotsman. Deputy coroner Stephen Beck
said the findings should serve as a lesson for other
operations.
"There are serious safety issues here and I feel the findings of
this report should be made available to both the British Parachute
Association and the Civil Aviation Authority in this country," Beck
said. "There are lessons in here to be learned on this side of the
world.
"Clearly there is not one particular thing which caused the
crash," he added, "but there are a number of safety issues and
recommendations for future operations should be made."
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