Update:
Bellinda Kontominas, AAP
October 5, 2006 – 8:30PM
Two men are confirmed dead after their plane crashed during a joyflight near Bathurst today.
The two-seater Strikemaster aerobatics plane crashed in remote bushland at Winburndale, about 15 kilometres north-east of Bathurst.
The crash ignited a four-hectare bushfire in the Turon State Forest.
Ken Vote, senior pilot for NRMA Careflight Central West, said the plane had crashed in a highly inaccessible area about 700m from the Turon River.
Mr Vote said the wreckage was split into three pieces, and the aircraft’s tail had landed about 1500m from the main wreckage.
“From what I saw flying over, I believe the aircraft suffered some type of in-flight break-up,” he said. “The different parts of the wreckage were not caused by the plane bouncing.”
Australian Search and Rescue placed an emergency call to NRMA CareFlight about 3.15pm on Thursday after the aircraft was reported several hours overdue.
The pilot is believed to be Nick Costin, owner of Jet Fighter Flights, which conducts joyflights out of Bathurst, Newcastle and the Blue Mountains.
Mr Costin’s close friend and former flying partner Pete Hannerman said he was unable to provide any information on how the plane had crashed. “I know very little … I just can’t,” he said.
However, Mr Hanneman’s wife, Heather, described Mr Costin as “very quiet, very pleasant, very charming” and passionate about flying.
Ms Hanneman, who is also a pilot, said the company was “very successful. They never had any incidents before, none whatsoever.”
Mr Costin, an ex-Royal Air Force weapons systems engineer, had started taking on more of the flights himself, Ms Hanneman said.
The Strikemaster is a vintage single engine ”war bird” first used by the RAF as a basic trainer in 1953.
Mr Costin’s company is believed to own three Strikemaster jet fighter/bombers that formerly belonged to the New Zealand and Singaporean militaries.
They are combat aircraft, capable of carrying 2000 pounds of bombs backed up with two machine-guns and can reach speeds of 900 km/h.
However, use of the planes was restricted after the Royal New Zealand Air Force found fatigue cracking in the wings of its aircraft.
The company’s website says its most popular flights are “low-level high-speed strike” missions that include a simulated weapons release, aerobatics and air combat manoeuvring.
The 25-minute flights, costing $2095 involve passengers wearing flying suits, complete with helmets and oxygen masks.
Passengers would attend a “top secret” briefing and wear full Top Gun flight gear. They would then “bomb” pre-ordained targets.
Because of the greater risk involved in such flights, passengers (and any victims of a potential crash on the ground) are insured for $10 million.
The company’s website says: “All adventure activities have an element of risk, however safety is paramount to all of the company’s flights. The aircraft are carefully maintained and safety equipment is carried on every flight.”
However, there has been controversy about operating vintage single-engined jets for joy flights.
Similar flights used to operate from Bankstown but are believed to have been banned because of the danger of the planes crashing into nearby homes.
The ejection seats in the Strikemasters have also been disarmed.
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