A 32-year-old pilot was killed when his plane crashed into flooded, crocodile-infested marshland, with investigators saying the aircraft hit a tree less than a kilometre from the runway
A charter flight crashed into a crocodile-infested area of the Australian outback, killing its sole occupant. A preliminary report revealed that the light plane had hit a tree less than a kilometre from the runway.
Thomas Niit, 32, was the sole occupant of the aircraft, a Beechcraft King Air B200. His plane crashed during a thunderstorm, about 800 metres north-west of Normanton Airport (NTN) in the Gulf of Carpentaria in rural Queensland, Australia.
According to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), the aircraft came down on February 6 in crocodile-infested marshland near the end of Runway 32 after taking off. The area was reportedly heavily flooded with water said to be knee-deep at the wreckage site.
As a result, recovery crews were reportedly escorted by police officers armed with rifles due to the presence of crocodiles.
A preliminary investigation found the aircraft climbed to around 150ft before descending, striking a tree roughly 360 metres beyond the end of the runway and coming to rest about 580 to 800 metres past the runway threshold.
Thomas, from Clifton Beach in Cairns., was carrying out a ferry flight for Machjet International back to Cairns after dropping off passengers.
In its preliminary report released on Thursday (April 2), the ATSB also said that at the final Automatic Dependent Surveillance, Broadcast datapoint, about 10m before impact, the plane was travelling at a land speed of about 300km and descending at 1100ft per minute, or 20km per hour, News.com.au reported.
ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said the preliminary report did not contain any findings. He said: “Evidence indicates the aircraft impacted the ground in a wings-level attitude and slid beneath powerlines, then commenced a gradual yaw to the right, impacting trees, and breaking up in the process, before coming to rest in floodwaters about 580m beyond the runway’s end.
“As the investigation progresses it will include an assessment of data from air traffic control, the Bureau of Meteorology, and equipment recovered from the aircraft.
“Should a critical safety issue be identified during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will notify relevant parties immediately, so timely safety action can be taken.”
Thomas had relocated to Cairns from Melbourne with his partner Naomi not long before the tragedy, the Daily Mail reported.
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