Commuter Plane Slams Into Hill

A Metroliner crashed midday Saturday in far north Queensland, claiming the lives of two pilots and 13 passengers. A rescue helicopter crew located the wreckage about four hours after contact was lost. (file photo below)

"The observations from people within the helicopter is that it is highly unlikely that anyone would have survived the crash. The impact is very severe," said Cairns Police Acting Superintendent Michael Keating according to The Age.

"It's an impossible area, the terrain is very steep," said Keating. "The crash is on the side of a rather steep hill and it's that combination of the site, and the prevailing weather conditions, which has made it impossible at this stage for us to get people on the ground."

The aircraft, reportedly operating as a commuter with Aero Tropics Air Services, was flying a regularly scheduled trip. The plane had left Bamaga, an Aboriginal community 40 km from the tip of the Cape York Peninsula, and crashed 9 km north of the Lockhart River airport.

Weather was at the time of the accident was poor, with low clouds, rain, and 20 knot winds. The pilot had spoken with ATC just four minutes before its scheduled arrival of 11:45 a.m. and was preparing to land.

"It was a matter of minutes, probably, before the impact occurred that the pilot was in communication with others," said Keating. "It was just a general communication between pilots … there is no indication at this stage of any distress from the pilot or the crew."

"We know that the weather at the time was terrible, but whether that actually did contribute to the accident is an unknown at this stage," said Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) spokesman Peter Gibson to Sky News.

 Most of those on board the plane were believed to be from far north Queensland. Victims include ten male passengers, three female passengers, and the male flightcrew.

"Regrettably, one of the passengers is a police officer, so this tragic circumstance has some real implications and some difficulties for police at the scene," said Keating. "Our sympathies go out to those people that are involved in this situation, and their families, and we can assure them that we are doing everything humanly and physically possible to resolve this problem as quickly as we can."

Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigators are on their way, and will be in the area on Sunday. They'll proceed to the crash site as soon as heavy rain and strong winds subside.

FMI: www.atsb.gov.au