Investigators say it will be difficult to work out what caused a fatal plane crash near Canberra yesterday and to formally identify its victims, because the aircraft was entirely destroyed.
Key points:
- A man and three children are believed to have died in yesterday’s crash
- Investigators say the burnt wreckage is dangerous and their work will take time
- Air-safety officials have asked witnesses to provide information and videos
Police say they believe the crash killed a man and three children who were understood to be on board at the time.
The group were scheduled to travel to Armidale in northern New South Wales, and left Canberra Airport about 2:30pm.
However, their small Cirrus SR22 aircraft crashed just north of the national capital, near the rural village of Gundaroo, shortly before 3:00pm.
The plane was destroyed and the wreckage was alight when rural firefighters arrived to put out the blaze.
NSW Police say no remains had been identified and it could not yet confirm the number of people who were on board.
Plea for witnesses to provide information
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is now leading the investigation, is seeking the public’s help to understand what happened before the crash.
Chief operator officer Colin McNamara said the bureau’s experts were on the site, including staff from the disaster victim identification unit.
“We’re also there to bring to bear our experience in making that site as safe as possible to operate, as there will be the presence of burnt carbon fibre and other serious hazards,” Mr McNamara said.
He said certain parts of the aircraft were potentially explosive and needed to be assessed, and the investigation would be “a difficult undertaking given how burnt the wreckage is”.
He thanked several witnesses who had contacted the bureau yesterday.
However, the bureau wanted to hear from other people who saw the plane, had video footage of its flight or had other relevant information, including about local weather anomalies at the time.
It asked witnesses to contact it via a form on its website.
Mr McNamana said the tragedy was “exacerbated by the news that children have been involved”, and expressed the bureau’s condolences to the family and friends of the victims.
The bureau is expected to publish a preliminary report on the crash within a month or two.