Police are investigating the state of mind of pilot Gareth Morgan, who lost control of the seaplane that plunged into the Hawkesbury River, killing him and a British family of five
Police are investigating the state of mind of a pilot who lost control of the seaplane that plunged into the Hawkesbury River, killing him and a British family of five.
The Sydney home of Gareth Morgan, 44, will be searched by detectives, who will probe his religious and political leanings, as well as his social behaviours, The Daily Telegraph reported.
‘Detectives called by yesterday and asked if they could inspect the house and Gareth’s room,’ his flatmate Luke Thornley told the paper.
‘As far as we are aware, Gareth was fine and happy and didn’t give the impression anything was wrong.
‘He went for runs every morning, even on New Year’s Day and was excited at the prospect of becoming a commercial pilot for Qantas and was studying for exams.’
Authorities are expected to use a floating crane to recover the seaplane, which crashed into the river north of Sydney on New Year’s Eve.
The Sydney home of Mr Gareth (pictured left and right with his friend Gary Homanick) will reportedly be searched
The New Year’s Eve crash killed all six on board. A group of friends who rushed to the scene of the crash are pictured trying to save the victims
The horror crash killed the experienced pilot, along with his five British passengers
NSW police will attempt to recover the Sydney Seaplanes DHC-2 Beaver on Thursday in an operation that’s expected to start at dawn and run into the afternoon.
The plane is resting on its roof in about 15 metres of water, said All Waterfront Constructions operations director Chris Kemp, who will work to recover the aircraft.
Two slings will be lowered and passed through the aircraft’s cabin by police divers, Mr Kemp said.
‘Then we’ll be lifting the whole lot up and placing it on the barge,’ he said.
This is believed to be the last photograph taken of pilot 44-year-old Gareth Morgan, 44
The seaplane is pictured in Sydney just hours before the tragic accident that killed six people
‘One of the wings is pretty badly damaged and bent over on the plane itself, so we’ll be pulling that back down and lashing it to the plane,’ Mr Kemp said.
‘We were on it the other day with the police divers and the cameras and it looks like there is still a wing intact on the fuselage.’
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is working to determine why the seaplane went down. One possibility is the plane stalled.
Aircraft maintenance engineer Michael Greenhill told AAP on Wednesday that while it was not mandatory in Australia for Beaver planes to have stall warnings installed, most did.
Victims Emma Bowden, 48, and her 11-year-old daughter Heather in front of Sydney Opera House days before the doomed 1960s single-engine DHC-2 Beaver plane plunged into the Hawksbury River
Emma Bowden, 48, with her daughter Heather in Sydney, days before the pair died in the crash
‘A stall is when the airflow over the aircraft’s wing becomes insufficient enough to produce lift,’ Mr Greenhill said.
‘So basically the wing stops flying.’
Mr Morgan died along with high-profile UK businessman Richard Cousins, his two adult sons Edward and William, his fiancee Emma Bowden and her 11-year-old daughter Heather.
The crash killed experienced pilot Gareth Morgan (left), 44, and high-profile UK businessman Richard Cousins (right), 58
Emma Bowden, 48, and her daughter Heather, 11, died in the horror seaplane crash in the Hawkesbury River
Investigators hope data will be recovered from the plane’s avionics instruments and any smartphones or cameras which were on board to piece together the final moments before the crash.
The Seaplane Pilots Association Australia said the aircraft involved in the crash is considered safer than other small planes because of its capacity to land on water in an emergency.
But it is believed the plane nosedived suddenly, leaving the pilot no time to make a mayday call before it plunged into the river.
Mr Cousins’ sons Edward, 23 (left) and William, 25 (right) were also killed when their seaplane plunged into the Hawkesbury River