The identity of the deceased was Libby Kathleen Arranga, aged 28 years, born on the 1st June 1970 at Rosebud, in the State of Victoria, Australia. She was a nurse by occupation, single and resided at Glen Echo Baldrus Parade, Dromana, in the State of Victoria. She died on the 26th November 1998 at King Island Hospital in the State of Tasmania, as a result of multiple injuries received in an air crash.
At the time of the crash, the deceased was seated in the front right seat next to the pilot, of an aircraft, piloted by Sally Anne Fraser.
At the time of her death she was being attended by a medical practitioner.
Sally Anne Fraser, the pilot, was aged 43 years, was in apparent good health with no known illness or disability which may have contributed to the accident. She was a visual flight rules private pilot with a total of 172 hours experience and 7.7 hours on a Piper PA32R (Lance) qualified to carry passengers.
The aircraft was a Piper PA32R (Lance) 1977 registered VH-ITR serial number 32R-7780427. It was regularly serviced and maintained in serviceable condition by Blue Demon Aviation Pty Ltd at Moorabbin Airport in Victoria, which organisation is one approved by the Civil Aviation authority. The aircraft had no known defect or failure at the time of the accident.
Visibility at the time (1.50pm) was sunny and clear, and the weather fine with north-east to easterly winds at 15-20 knots with occasional gusts. Five minutes after the accident, the automatic weather station at King Island Airport recorded the wind velocity as 059 degrees at 18 knots, gusting to 25 knots. A pilot who took off from King Island about 30 minutes after the accident reported experiencing strong wind gusts and windshear. However weather conditions were not inappropriate for this flight.
Take off was northerly along the north-south runway.
The pilot was conducting a private flight from King Island to Moorabbin with five passengers. The group had flown from Moorabbin to King Island two days earlier.
A witness saw the aircraft appear to accelerate normally in a northerly direction along the north-south runway, becoming airborne at the intersection of the north-west/south-east runway after a take off roll of about 430 metres From available acceptable evidence, expert opinion is that at maximum allowable gross weight (as the aircraft was) with flaps up, under the prevailing conditions, the calculated ground roll was about 415 metres for the take off at King Island.
The observed estimated take off roll was, therefore appropriate. That same expert opinion is that in accordance with the approved flight manual for the aircraft, the maximum permissible cross wind component for take- off and landing was 17 knots. It is estimated that at the time of take-off the cross wind component ranged between 16 knots and 23 knots.
The pilots operating Handbook for the PA32R contains a general statement which indicates that if the centre of gravity is too far aft an aircraft may rotate prematurely on take- off, or tend to pitch up during climb with associated reduction in longitudinal stability which can lead to inadvertent stalls. It is impossible to accurately determine the position of the aircraft’s centre of gravity, but the evidence would suggest that it was just within or at the aft limit. A sudden cross-wind gust above 17 knots may therefore have adversely affected flight control at a critical stage.
The witness who observed the take-off reported that a short distance beyond the runway intersection, at a height of about 100 feet a gust of wind appeared to hit the aircraft, it then pitched steeply nose up and banked left about 30 degrees . The aircraft appeared to hang in the air momently without any forward airspeed with the engine at high power before banking further left in a nose high attitude and being lost to sight to the observer behind shrubs and a building.
The aircraft was found to have impacted the ground in a steep nose-down, left wing low attitude, tearing off the left wing, before sliding along the ground for about 65 metres and coming to rest on the intersecting north-west south-east runway.
The same expert opinion, allowing for the fact that the aircraft may have encountered wind-shear, proposes that the pilot may have tried to counteract it, by raising the nose of the aircraft, which would have resulted in a decrease in airspeed. An aft centre of gravity, if present, may have aggravated any tendency for the nose to pitch up. A passenger heard a beeping noise which in all probability was the stall warning horn responding to a low airspeed condition.
The aircraft suffered a significant loss of airspeed shortly after take-off, and that it acquired a condition of at least partial wing stall, which led to it impacting the ground.
It is likely that it had encountered wind-shear when only just airborne and still close to the ground. It is likely that the pilot was principally concerned with maintaining her control over the flight and that she sought to gain altitude in order to maintain such control and to remove the danger presented to her control by windshear when so close to the ground.
In raising the nose in an attempt to gain height sufficient airspeed was lost as to lead to wing stall and loss of control over flight. The pilot’s response may have been as instinctive as intentional, but in either case the response is understandable given her level of experience and skill.
The following persons were first at the scene and assisted in the removal of the occupants of the aircraft without thought or fear for their own safety despite obvious dangers presented by fuel leakage and the possibility of a sudden conflagration -
Andrew Clyde HUCKEL, of King Island - Supervisor, King Island Airport.
Allan Frederick ROBINS, of King Island - Supervisor, King Island Airport.
Merrilyn Joy COX, of Morrison Avenue, King Island - Nurse.
Denis Edward SILK, of King Island - Contract Fitter and Turner.
David James REED, of King Island - Volunteer Ambulance Officer.
Members of the Volunteer Ambulance Service and Volunteer Fire Service and State Emergency Service who also attended the scene are also to be commended for their prompt and efficient response.
Before I conclude this inquest, I wish to convey my sincere condolences to members of the deceased’s family.
This matter is now concluded.