CBC

Tue Sep 5, 8:38 am

Australian plane crashes after flying for hours on autopilot

Eight people died on-board a plane that crashed in Australia  an incident similar to the crash that killed pro golfer Payne Stewart and five others last October.

The pilot and all seven passengers in a twin-prop plane apparently lost consciousness as the craft traveled hundreds of kilometres on autopilot before running out of fuel and crashing.

Investigators believe that the Beechcraft King Air 200 lost cabin pressure minutes after taking off from Perth in western Australia, causing everyone on-board to black out.

The plane was headed from Perth to the gold-mining town of Leonora, both in Western Australia, with seven miners aboard.

Last October, golfer Stewart and five others died when their Lear jet drifted on autopilot for hours before running out of fuel and crashing in South Dakota.

The Australian chartered flight flew 2,800 kilometres over six hours along a fairly straight line over three states before crashing near Mount Isa in far northern Queensland.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), September 05, 2000

Answers

Second depressurisation incident in 15 months

Source: AAP|Published: Tuesday September 5, 6:22 PM

The crash of a twin-engined plane in outback Queensland overnight after apparently losing cabin pressure is the second Australian incident involving depressurisation in the same aircraft type in 15 months.

On June 21 last year another Beechcraft King Air 200 almost crashed after experiencing a dramatic loss of cabin pressure, according to the Bureau of Air Safety Investigations (BASI).

During that incident, a passenger in the co-pilot's seat noticed the pilot behaving erratically, repeatedly performing the same task.

Soon afterwards, the pilot collapsed and the passenger - himself an experienced pilot - took control and descended the plane to 6,000 feet, where it was discovered the aircraft was not pressurised.

The pilot then regained consciousness and landed the plane safely.

Investigators concluded that had the passenger not taken control, 'this incident may have resulted in the loss of life of both the passengers and the pilot, as a direct result of either oxygen deprivation or the subsequent loss of control of the aircraft'.

They found that passenger oxygen masks had not dropped because of a problem with the mask container doors, and there was a possible malfunction of the cabin altitude alert system.

Investigations also revealed that routine maintenance checks did not include an operational check of either the passenger oxygen system or the altitude alert system.

In October, BASI recommended that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and the Federal Aviation Administration reassess maintenance procedures to incorporate testing of both systems.

It said both bodies should also consider the installation of audible alarms in Beechcraft King Air 200s, in addition to the existing warning lights, to alert the pilot to falling pressure.

All eight people aboard a Beechcraft King Air 200 owned by Central Air died overnight when the plane crashed in Queensland's northern gulf country at 2.10am (AEDT) after travelling on autopilot across Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland for several hours.

Chartered by mining company Sons of Gwalia, the aircraft was travelling from Perth to the WA Goldfields town of Leonora, 830km away, but lost radio contact shortly after take-off.

BASI spokesman Peter Saint said in a statement the officer in charge of the June 1999 investigation was one of four Australian Transport Safety Bureau officers examining the overnight crash.

He said the examination would include the aircraft and its systems, as well as pilot and passenger incapacitation.

The recommendations arising out of last year's incident would also be reviewed in the context of the accident.

http://www.theage.com.au/breaking/0009/05/A47919-2000Sep5.shtml

-- Doris (reaper1@mindspring.com), September 05, 2000.