[Peetwo]

Update: Doomed flight may have been an Angel Flight mission.

Via the Oz..  

Three people dead in light plane crash

The wreckage of a light plane that crashed in Suttontown. Picture: Matt Loxton

• Meredith Booth, Michael Owen
  
• The Australian
  
• 7:38PM June 28, 2017
  [img=0x0]https://i1.wp.com/pixel.tcog.cp1.news.com.au/track/component/author/30516814f413e39639e1d8a8f9493a05/?esi=true&t_product=the-australian&t_template=s3/austemp-article_common/vertical/author/widget&td_bio=false[/img]
  

Update 29/06/17: Angel Flight confirmed & ATSB Media alert.

Via the ABC News online:

Mount Gambier plane crash: Investigators sifting through wreckage after three killed

Updated 20 minutes ago Thu 29 Jun 2017, 10:48amdeos

Video: Investigators are combing through the plane wreckage. (ABC News)

A light plane which crashed yesterday, killing three people just north of Mount Gambier, was a charity flight on its way to Adelaide.

The victims were 78-year-old Adelaide Hills man, Grant Gilbert, who was flying the aircraft, and a 16-year-old girl and her 43-year-old mother — Emily and Tracy Redding from Mount Gambier, in South Australia's south-east.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigators arrived at the scene this morning where the Angel Flight crashed.

The plane, a TB10 Tobago, took off from the nearby airport just after 10:00am yesterday and the first report of the crash at Suttontown about three kilometres away came at 10:24am.

ATSB said the investigators were experts in aircraft engineering, technical and human factors and would examine the site, wreckage, gather any recorded data and interview any witnesses.

Photo: Tracy and Emily Redding were on a charity flight to Adelaide for medical treatment when the plane crashed. (Facebook)

Planes crashed during foggy conditions

Police said conditions were foggy and wet in the area at the time of the crash.


Photo: Mount Gambier pilot Grant Gilbert was known to be an enthusiastic philanthropist. (Supplied: Facebook)

Angel Flight is a charity which coordinates non-emergency flights to help country people reach medical treatment and appointments. The service has volunteer pilots and drivers.
The Redding family issued a statement, thanking police, emergency services and staff at Grant High School for their "sympathy and empathy in dealing with family members at this difficult time".

"Our thoughts are also with the family and friends of the pilot, who was a dedicated and tireless volunteer who also lost his life in this tragic incident," the statement said.

"We know that an event such as this will affect many members of the communities of Mount Gambier and Mount Barker and hope that anyone affected by it will seek support from family, friends or support services."

Mr Gilbert became the licence holder and operator of the single-engine plane in 2014 and often flew it between Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Port Lincoln.

Liberal MP for Heysen Isobel Redmond described Mr Gilbert as a businessman with "unbounded energy" who had a community focus.

"He was always there to help," she said.

"So although it is such a tragic circumstance, it is typical of Grant that he would have been so far away from home and he must have gone very early in the morning or the night before or something to do that flight at his own expense for such a worth while cause.


Photo: Lights were used at the scene of the crash overnight. (ABC News: Chris McLoughlin)

"It will take a long time for the community in the Hills to come to terms with such a tragic loss."

State Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said he knew the pilot for more than a decade.

"I think the side of Grant that many people didn't see was his wonderful philanthropic work," Mr Marshall said.

"He was a great community leader and he'll be sorely missed by the people of Mt Barker and people right across this state."

It is not the first time an Angel Flight has been involved in an accident.

In 2011 three people died after a flight between Essendon Airport and Nhill in Victoria crashed near Horsham.

The ATSB found the most likely cause of that crash was poor visibility.

Photo: Crash investigators are working at the scene of the plane crash. (ABC News: Christopher McLoughlin)

Via the ATSB media minion:

Media briefing on fatal aviation accident near Mount Gambier, South Australia 

Date: 29 June 2017

ATSB Investigator Laura Henwood will provide an on-site media briefing at 2 PM (ACST) Thursday, 29 June 2017, at the intersection of Sunnybrae Road and Walker Road, Suttontown, South Australia.Three people died when a SOCATA TB-10 Tobago aircraft, registered VH-YTM, collided with terrain at 10.30 am on Wednesday 28 June 2017. The accident occurred about 3km south-west of Mount Gambier Airport.The briefing will outline the known facts of the accident, the investigation team’s on-site activities and the investigation process.

ATSB investigation AO-2017-069

Who: ATSB Investigator Laura Henwood

Where: The intersection of Sunnybrae Road and Walker Road, Suttontown, SA.

When: 2 PM ACST, Thursday 29 June 2017

Media contact: 1800 020 616 


Last update 29 June 2017

MTF...P2