[Peetwo]

Update: ATSB O&O investigation AO-2017-057.

Ref: Adelaide Advertiser:

Renmark Rossair crash investigation blows out to two and a half years because of absence of flight recorder

Mitch Mott, The Advertiser
May 30, 2019 8:30pm
Subscriber only
May 30, 2017: Three killed in plane crash disaster
May 2018: Victims’ families remember loved ones
May 2018: Lead investigator quits, delaying report
May 2019: Widow says they’ve been treated like ‘worthless entities’

A plane that crashed at Renmark killing three pilots did not have a black box, delaying the aviation safety watchdog’s investigation by more than a year and a half.

On the second anniversary of the Rossair plane tragedy, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau says the final report is still six months away.

The investigation has been beset by multiple delays, including the chief investigator quitting, leaving the families of the three men craving answers about what happened in the seconds between the plane taking off from Renmark Aerodrome and it crashing into the ground.

Paul Daw.Stephen Guerin.

Experienced pilots Paul Daw, 65, Stephen Guerin, 56, and Martin Scott, 48, were in a nine-seat Rossair aircraft when it crashed into scrubland 4km from Renmark Aerodrome on May 30, 2017.

The trio had been completing a re-evaluation test for Mr Daw with Mr Guerin, a Civil Aviation Safety Authority officer, observing the older man.

The plane was only in the air for between 60 and 90 seconds before it careened into the ground nose first, killing all three men instantly.

The report, which was initially slated to take 12 months, has stretched out to two and a half years.

The final report is now due in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Crash victim Martin Scott, his partner Terri Hutchinson and their son Andy. Mr Scott was killed when a Rossair training flight crashed after take off in Renmark. Picture: Terri Hutchinson

Mr Scott’s long time partner and fiancee Terri Hutchinson, 51, said the overwhelming question for her was “how could this happen with three experienced pilots on board”?

“I don’t think you ever come to terms with a loss of such magnitude, however the delay in providing answers has played a heavy toll on any attempt we make to try to move forward with our lives.”

Both Ms Hutchinson and Mr Scott’s father Joe believe that the accident was entirely preventable.

“Nothing will bring Martin back; however, it is extremely important to us that lessons are learned so that no one else should have to deal with such a terrible tragedy,” Ms Hutchinson said.

The ATSB said the investigation had been complicated by the lack of on-board recorders including a black box. Picture: Dylan Coker

An ATSB spokesman said the Bureau was still examining the evidence to ensure that the final report was “objective” and “factually correct”.

“One complexity with this investigation is the accident aircraft’s lack of any flight data recorder or cockpit voice recorder,” he said.

“The accident aircraft was not required to be fitted with either a flight data or cockpit voice recorder, but the lack of on-board recorders adds to the complexity of the investigation, as the ATSB works to rule in and rule out contributing factors to this accident on the basis of the available indirect evidence.”

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority regulations dictate that a plane weighing less than 5700kg needs a black box recorder if it is pressurised, carries more than 11 people or is turbine powered by more than one engine.


The wreckage of the plane as seen from above. Picture: 7 News Adelaide

In the aftermath of the accident Ms Hutchinson moved back to the United Kingdom with her son Andy, now aged 11.

They have settled in the quaint seaside village of Cullercoats, in the country’s northeast. But as the pair heal on the other side of the world from the scene of the crash, Mr Scott has never been far from their minds.

“Neither Andy or I have been able to look at photos or videos since Martin died as things are still too raw and painful; I’m sure we’ll get there one day and thankfully we have each other,” she said.

Andy has taken after his father, inheriting a love of all things aviation.

“For his eleventh birthday he received a trial flight in a two-seater aeroplane which he got to fly by himself,” Ms Hutchinson said.

“I know many people would be concerned about flying in our circumstances, however I take the pragmatic approach and tell myself how rare aviation accidents actually are.

“There would be no point in trying to stop him anyway. It is definitely in his blood.”


Martin Scott, Terri Hutchinson and their son Andy, who has inherited his father’s love of aviation. Picture: Terri Hutchinson

Ms Hutchinson said it took a year to decided to leave Australia for the country where both she and Mr Scott had been born.

“This decision was to take me a year to make as I seemed to be in a fog up until that time,” she said.

“I think that year was probably the worst of my life. I just couldn’t believe that this could happen to such a confident, happy, fearless person like Martin.”

MTF...P2