A 71-year-old pilot died when his light plane crashed in northern NSW in heavy fog this morning.
Douglas Braund was flying his four-seater Cessna 172 when he crashed into trees near Ballina just before 9am.
The plane came to a stop about 50 metres into the bush.
The aircraft had taken off from Heck Field (YHEC) Flying Club in Jacobs Well, Queensland, and was travelling to Ballina Airport (BNK/YBNA), New South Wales.
The crash happened at Brooklet about 20 kilometres northwest of Ballina.
"There was heavy fog at the time and debris was scattered over a large area," police said in a statement.
Local residents heard a loud noise before they found the aircraft in bushland.
There was very low cloud, drizzly rain and fog at the time.
Mr Braund was a committee member at the Straddie Aero Club in Queensland, which paid tribute to him as "a lovely person".
A team of four Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators has been deployed to the accident site.
Aircraft Information
Aircraft: Cessna 172 Skyhawk
Operator: Private
Registration: VH-FYN
Serial Number: 17267270
First Flew: 21 October 1976
Age: 40 yrs 8 months
My thoughts and prayers go out to the immediate families and his friends
No comments:
Post a Comment