INVESTIGATIONS into the plane crashed off Barlings Beach have begun, with Recreation Aviation Australia (RAA) assigning its most senior official to the task.
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RAA is the national governing body for recreational aircraft.
RAA president Michael Monck was concerned the wreckage had spent eight days in the ocean.
“We are aiming to find the cause of the crash, we will be examining the construction of the plane and what may have failed during the flight,” Mr Monck said.
“Given the plane has spent so much time under the water, we do have some concerns with how quickly we will be able to uncover that information.
“We have sent our highest ranking technical manager to look at the wreckage and he will be giving daily updates.”
The Morgan Sierra 200 plane, built by pilot Ralph Buchanan, will be examined along with electronic devices recovered from the crash.
Mr Monck said RAA could not predict how long the investigation would take, but the organisation would work closely with other agencies, such as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), which had metallurgy and engineering specialists.
“We will be looking at the GPS tracking system in the plane, but again the amount of time spent underwater may determine how much information we find,” Mr Monck said.
“We will be working closely with other official bodies, for example the ATSB, and when dealing with third parties this often slows the process down.
“At this stage we will not be putting a timeframe on the investigation but it will be more than a week.
“We would rather get this right than do it quickly.”
Mr Monck said it was unlikely the crash was due to pilot error.
“We know the two pilots involved were very experienced and one was a highly experienced instructor, so that suggests it was unlikely to be pilot error, however we are not ruling that out,” he said.
Mr Monck said recovery of the wreckage was not only an important step to start the investigation but important in healing for friends, family and the entire aviation community.
“It is very important that we find out the cause of the crash so that we, the aviation community, can make changes to make our sport safer,” he said.
“More important however is what finding the plane means for friends and families who are dealing with this tragic crash.”
Police accompanied relatives and a close family friend to the crash site on Tuesday so they could see the location for themselves.
Far South Coast police Detective, Superintendent Peter O’Brien, said they met with police divers from the Marine Area Command and thanked them for their efforts over the past week.
“A family member wanted to pass on their thanks also to the local divers who also participated in the search and to all the search and rescue personnel who have worked on this,” Mr O’Brien said.
“This was a most difficult trip for them to make.”
Mr O’Brien praised highly the efforts and work of local rescue authorities, the maritime authority at Batemans Bay and members of the public.
“A formal debrief session is planned for all involved on a date to be fixed,” he said.
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