[Peetwo]

P9 - Speculation - Just looking at the paddock, gee whiz, it looks (at least in the photograph) to be as rough as the proverbial badgers whot’s it. Tough job, lots of wind, probably wind shadows and shear, rough paddock forced landing would be bad enough, but in a very light aircraft – Even if the aircraft speed was back to ‘safe slow’ even a small bounce in 20 kts of head wind (quartering crosswind a nightmare) would have the aircraft in a difficult place – even with a donkey to do the heavy lifting.

Noticed the thread on the UP got shutdown, probably a good thing as it was becoming way to speculative & OTT without a shred of fact/evidence coming out of the relevant authorities.
There was a media update which could have been a candidate for the 'bad' in the 'Tick, flick & publish'  thread... However there was some more photos which reinforces the "K" speculation, so here is the article courtesy the Gold Coast Bulletin:

The future of Tiger Moth Joy Rides looks uncertain after fatal crash

January 4, 2016 1:00am
Lexie Cartwright Gold Coast Bulletin

The future of Tiger Moth Joyrides at Pimpama is uncertain after a fatal crash. Pic by Richard Gosling

THE future of Tiger Moth Joy Rides on the Gold Coast is up in the air as the owner of the Pimpama company suspends services until further notice.

The fatal crash last Monday, which killed Coutts Crossing train driver Gary Turnbull, 58, and injured world record breaking pilot Ryan Campbell, 21, destroyed the only warbird owned by Paul Bennet, of Paul Bennet Airshows.

TIGER MOTH FLIGHT WAS GIFT FOR CHRISTMAS

• 
  Gary Turnbull was killed when a Tiger Moth plane crashed at Pimpama. Photo: Facebook.
  

Pilot Ryan Campbell (left) in the Tiger Moth. He is recovering in hospital.

The future of the joy rides business is uncertain. Pic by Richard Gosling



Mr Bennet refunded bookings scheduled for the summer holidays and said the most professional thing to do at the moment was nothing, out of respect for the deceased.

“I have no answers,” he said.

“We’ve refunded all the bookings, there was no issue with doing that at all.

“It’s just still a bit raw. I need to have a think about everything.

“A lot of what we end up doing will depend on what the findings are.

“It’s just too early to tell, an accident has happened and we need to put business decisions on hold to make a proper decision.

“Out of respect for the passenger the best thing we can do right now is nothing.”

There were reports pilot Mr Campbell, who is still recovering in Princess Alexandra Hospital, said the crash was a result of an engine failure but that is yet to be confirmed.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau are investigating the incident and will pass their findings onto the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, who then decide whether the pilot is fit enough to keep his license.

Mr Campbell had wanted to be a pilot since he was six-years-old and has a family background in aviation.

“It’s too early to make judgments on that (licensing),” a CASA spokesman said.

“Once information is gathered we will assess what went wrong and if there are safety implications that need to be addressed, we will address them accordingly.”

Tiger Moth Joy Rides only relaunched in May after the business was taken over by Mr Bennet following a fatal crash in December 2013 that claimed the life of young Frenchwoman Taissia Umenc and pilot Alex “Jimmy” Rae.

An investigation into that has not been finalised, although an initial report found the left wing had failed soon after commencing an acrobatic manoeuvre off South Stradbroke Island.

Former owner Geoff Stillman, who decided to sell the business after not quite bouncing back from the fatal crash two years ago, was not available for comment.

P2 comment: Certainly looks more like a CFIT that has gone awry once contacting some very rugged looking terra firma, it basically looks like it has pancaked into the paddock, of course that is purely speculative   

Anyway here is the latest off the ATSB investigation page:

Investigation number: AO-2015-150

Investigation status: Active
 

• Summary
  

Summary

During the conduct of the flight with a pilot and passenger the aircraft collided with terrain. The passenger was fatally injured and the pilot received serious injuries.
A team of three investigators with expertise in aircraft maintenance, operations and human performance deployed to the accident site on 28 December 2015. Completion of the on-site phase of the investigation has been delayed due to the presence of asbestos within the engine compartment of the aircraft. Following specialist assessment and removal of the asbestos, it is expected that examination of the aircraft will be completed within the next few days.
 
General details
Date:
28 Dec 2015
 
Investigation status:
Active
 
Time:
09:30 EST
 
Investigation type:
Occurrence Investigation
 
Location   (show map):
near Pimpama Airstrip
 
Occurrence type:
Collision with terrain
 
State:
QLD

 
Occurrence category:
Accident
 
Report status:
Pending
 
Highest injury level:
Fatal
 
Expected completion:
Nov 2016
 
 
Aircraft details

Aircraft manufacturer:
de Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd
 
Aircraft model:
DH-82A
 
Aircraft registration:
VH-UZB
 
Serial number:
291
 
Type of operation:
General Aviation-Unknown
 
Sector:
Piston
 
Damage to aircraft:
Destroyed
 


Last update 05 January 2016

 


MTF..P2