Lake Eyre Plane Crash

That is one of the coolest things I've ever read. Just amazing.

Yes, older than the Earth itself !!
Incredible and lucky they got to it when they did.
Those cameras set up to capture these events and help pinpoint them is an excellent idea.

Great technology to locate it.

YEs, great is wasn't really a crash at all, excellent landing and an once of luck too.

Gday Toni
Did you get your Christmas rain?

I read that the aircraft was a Tecnam Eaglet.

Graeme

with a Rotax 912 - engine failed

Im interested why ELT didnt seem to bring help

Yes JR, wondering that myself.

Obviously the ELT is an apparatus like an EPIRB or PLB by another name, so should lock on within minutes you'd think, and get onto a satellite or aircraft flying nearby (lots go overhead through there), and a search not done asap.
Something should have been able to be done sooner as it was fairly close to Marree, 30km northwest of the town from news.com.au reports.
If correct, they would have been on Muloorina Station if so, and probably not far off the Level Post Bay Tk.

The reports generally say the stranded pilot and pax heard aircraft next morn, but don't specifically say they were searching for them, it could have just been Trevor doing a Lake Eyre flight ??

Found some more news items that indicate a search was underway . . .

"The Australian Maritime Safety Authority says the men were found 30km northwest of the town at around 9.30am on Wednesday after search planes combed an area of about 5000sq kilometres around Lake Eyre."

So, that begs the question, was the ELT GPS enabled ?
If so, they should have been able to be found to well within visible distance by the grid coords a PPS system would provide.
If the ELT isn't GPS enabled, then how can that sort of item be a part of modern transportation ?
A 5000km square search area be a viable thing with such incidents.

And, looks like they incident wasn't reported until late in the evening . . .

"Just before 11pm last night, police received reports of a single engine ultralight aircraft being overdue after failing to land at Marree at about 7.30pm."

News indicates police raised alarm so not from PLB
also indicates transmissions picked up by airlines
A registered 406 PLB is a legal requirement for 2 seat aircraft and above in all but very local flights
GPS units see very accurate location, like meters.
It either didnt work for some reason or was a very old 121 model.

Aircraft carry an ELT that is “inertia” activated, that is you crash, and it goes off.

Our aircraft had one as it was a requirement by the Civil Aviation Authority for the type we owned.

Given this was a “forced landing” it is unlikely the on-board ELT was activated automatically, but it could have been done manually.

The units will transmit a signal like any other PLB/ELT/EPIRBs and will be picked up by Cospas-Sarsat and information immediately relayed to AMSA in Australia for action.

ELTs, which are mostly used in aircraft, also transmit on VHF 121.5 which assists in homing in on the unit in a search situation. Notwithstanding GPS these days will take care of that anyway…

Most commercial airliners will monitor the 121.5 frequency and if overflying the area they will have picked-up a distress signal on this frequency…

Cheers, Baz – The Landy

Makes sense too, if a plane crashes it would sometimes have to be inertia activated.
(Hmmmm might be a valid idea for cars too, but then probably too many false alarms.)

The ABC story did state "Then after that we went through the process of getting the ELT [emergency locator transmitter] to work, so they could find our location and went about making ourselves comfortable basically for the night ahead."

Still it sounds like it was the 11pm Police notification that got things working, and then you have to ask why couldn't search aircraft just locate them by tracker or with grid coords ?
It sounds like there were planes searching a very large area.

A little rain on boxing day, then a bit more on the 2nd Jan. Nowhere near enough unfortunately Muzbry. Still waiting. Not too patiently either. Cheers Toni

Sorry , not true Baz, only for charter or commercial aircraft are fixed auto ELT required
These fixed ELT have very poor activation rates anyway in accidents.

In new regulation, small aircraft now require 406mhz PLB, dont think 121 is required anymore as no one monitoring it other than some large aircraft with spare capability
Most PLB have GPS capability that well outperforms 121mhz location.

I read there is maybe some doubt as to ELT use or presence in this case.

Jr, interesting mate.
The news articles so mention 2 tourist pax (from the Eyre Peninsula) taking a joy flight, so seems to be a commercial flight.
It makes sense to carry a PLB in such cases as a minimum.
But then, it makes even more of an argument for a sat phone to be carried, even if just for common sense / safety.

"Our aircraft had one as it was a requirement by the Civil Aviation Authority for the type we owned."

"for the type we owned."

Cheers....

Hu Guys

A little more from a local ABC interview today with the passenger of the plane:

The two men were from Minlaton on the Yorke Peninsula in a local plane and not the Eyre Peninsula as reported above. They were only 10 minutes out of Marree when the engine issue developed and tried to get phone contact with the Marree Hotel, but were not able to get any phone reception. From there they found a suitable landing location and managed to glide the plane safely down.

They did hear searching aircraft in the distance but could not contact them. They were continually scanning the radio frequencies and the next morning finally made radio contact with Trevor Wright from William Creek who was out looking for them.

They gave Trevor their GPS location details and were then asked to set fire to one of the aircrafts tyres so the smoke could be seen from a distance by other searching aircraft.

The reporter then asked one of the men did they have a PLB or similar and why they did not activate it, and the reply was that yes they did have one, but he was not going to comment on it and then went straight to another question.

So now the question is, was it activated or not?

More news to come as we all find out more.



Cheers




Stephen

"It makes sense to carry a PLB in such cases as a minimum.....even more of an argument for a sat phone to be carried, even if just for common sense / safety"

Sure does, most do carry PLB even before regulations came in. I think it has always been the case that for remote flight you needed EPIRB or HF radio in designated remote areas
Its Recreational Aviation registered aircraft so very unlikely to be a paid joyflight more likely a personal sight seeing tour.

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Stepen L's FollowUp above shows how it is unreliable to believe much of the detail in any News Report.
Every time that I have had first-hand knowledge of a news event I found the Media report to be incorrect in one or more significant points.
I guess that we can believe that a plane experienced a forced landing and has been located but will probably never learn the full and true facts of the event.

"Stepen L's FollowUp above shows how it is unreliable to believe much of the detail in any News Report."

Allan, if you meant "news" with a capital N as in Murdoch rags, then I have to say that in regard to aviation the lack of credibility of any mass media report of an aviation incident is not confined to Murdoch's crap rags.

Some years ago before I retired I helped brief a jounalist from the Fairfax press (Sydney Morning Herald) about operations at Sydney Airport. I and others spent a whole day with him.

What came out in that august broadsheet (as it was at the time) was the most unmitigated concentration of aviation bull c$ap that could ever be written. Yes, Robert Wainwright, senior aviation writer, I am talking about you.

I will never forget the misrepresentation of facts and the adverse effect that article had on the public's mis-understanding of the sensitive issues at the time. And of the public's impression and mis-understanding of my profession. Wainwright and his article were a disgrace to the journalist's profession.

Unfortunately, in the intervening years nothing much has changed. The journalism industry continues to milk aviation for its drama. Aircraft don't descend, they "plunge". Or they "nose-dive". As distinct from "tail-dive", of course. They never make a precautionary landing - they "crash-land". Even when it's successful with no damage, it's a "crash-landing"or a "crash" and the occupants "survive by a miracle". Or the pilot is a hero, simply for doing his job for which he is trained to do.

I can form this opinion because I know the subject intimately. It follows that the demonstrated inability of the journalism industry to dispassionately and accurately report the facts in aviation must hold true in other specialist areas of interest to the public.

Journalists - bunch of idiots full of hyperbole and BS. Never trust any of 'em. At any time. Especially in regard to aviation.

Phew, now I feel better.

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No Frank, I used the capitals for emphasis but my comments apply to Rupert's nice newspapers as much as any other.
Incidentally, I have met him many years ago and shook his hand, or rather, he shook mine. It is my pitiful singular claim to fame. LOL

Your condemnation of use of the word "crash" makes me feel guilty, but in defence, I simply copied the ABC's headline to my EO Post. I'll not do it again.

Frank, you forgot to mention;

"Passengers screaming in fear, as the pilots WRESTLED with the controls!"

"Passengers speak of seeing huge flames licking at the windows as the 'plane plunged!"

"Passenger speaks: I was sure I was going to die!"

"Passenger relates miraculous escape from plane crash!" (usually after an orderly evacuation, post-crash)

"Sources state crashed aircraft had poor maintenance issues" ( a good one to print, even when mechanical failure had nothing to do with the crash)

And of course - the oldest and the best - every crashed light aircraft, is automatically a CESSNA! LOL

Cheers, Ron.

Spot on Frank P. Not just aviation by any means either. Journalist = liar from what I've seen.

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This is a bit beyond what we have talked about but some years ago in Melbourne I knew a radio news reporter who was an 'ambulance chaser'. He had appropriate scanners/radios in his car to attend traffic incidents. Moreover, he 'interviewed' members of his family identified as 'witnesses' and the station studio had technology to change voice characteristics and add background sounds.