
Two killed in horror plane crash
Early investigations indicate the aircraft crashed near Oakey Cooyar Rd at Devon Park, about two hours from Brisbane, shortly after 3pm on Sunday.
A Queensland Fire Department spokesperson said four crews rushed to the scene just before 3.20pm and extinguished a blaze from the plane, which had caught fire.
Queensland Police said the two male occupants were declared deceased at the scene and that Forensic Crash Unit were investigating the circumstances around the incident. Two people have been killed after light plane crashes at Devon Park, near Toowoomba. 7News Credit: Supplied
They will assist investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau who confirmed on Sunday afternoon they would investigating the crash.
The ATSB identified the aircraft as a twin turboprop Reims Cessna F406, and that officers were being deployed from Brisbane and Canberra.
The investigators, who specialise in aircraft operations and maintenance, will conduct a range of 'evidence-gathering activities', including site and wreckage examination. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau will investigate the crash with support from police. 7News Credit: Supplied
'Investigators will also seek to interview involved parties, and collect relevant recorded information including flight tracking data,' the ATSB said in a statement.
'As well as pilot and aircraft maintenance records, and weather information.'
Anyone with footage of the aircraft at 'any phase of the flight' or following the crash were urged to contact the ATSB.
A report will also be prepared for the information of the coroner.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Sky News AU
4 days ago
- Sky News AU
Queensland flight examiner's last words to wife just hours before fatal plane crash claimed his life revealed
The longtime wife of a man who died following a tragic plane crash over the weekend has revealed the last words he spoke to her just hours before take-off. Flight examiner and war veteran Robert 'Bob' Molony was one of two men onboard an Aero Logistics aircraft which crashed west of Toowoomba, Queensland on Sunday afternoon. Emergency responders rushed to scene at Devon Park near Oakley at about 3.10pm following reports of a crash, with police saying in a statement the two male occupants of the aircraft were declared dead at the scene. Pilot Wayne Saunders has been identified as the other man onboard the 35-year-old French made twin turboprop Reims Cessna F406 that took off from Warwick Airport. The Courier Mail reports Stephanie Molony, who had been married to Mr Molony for nearly three decades, has said her husband will leave a legacy of having been 'one of the most experienced pilots around'. 'I'm so proud of him and the person he was for the industry, that they've now got people like him to aspire to be,' she said. Ms Molony also revealed she and the 78-year-old had shopped for fruit trees at a Bunnings on Sunday morning before her husband's flight that afternoon. She said the flight examiner had yelled to her 'I'll be home at 4pm to plant those trees' as he walked out the door. 'There was nothing extra about it, just as simple as that,' she said. 'It got to 4.30pm and I tried ringing his mobile and it went to message bank. Ms Molony drove to the airport the plane had departed from and discovered her husband's parked car, before police then arrived to deliver the news, according to the masthead. It comes after the chief executive of Aero Logistics – an Archerfield-based aircraft charter and rental service – described Sunday's incident as 'tragedy'. 'This is a terrible tragedy for the two people on-board the aircraft and their families, friends and workmates,' chief executive Ben Smee said on Monday. 'This is a devastating loss for everyone who knew them. 'We have offered our support and assistance to their families as they come to terms with the situation. We have also made counselling services available for our staff.' An investigation into determining the cause of the crash could take up to six weeks, according to the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau (ATSB). Mr Molony, originally from Brisbane, was a former Royal Australian Air Force pilot who was deployed to South Vietnam as a Canberra bomber navigator, having amassed more than 14,000 flight hours over his career. The ATSB has said its investigation involves a team of investigators from Brisbane and Cairns. 'Investigators will conduct a range of evidence-gathering activities, including site and wreckage examination, and recovery of any aircraft components for further examination at the ATSB's technical facilities in Canberra,' a statement said. 'Investigators will also seek to interview involved parties, and collect relevant recorded information including flight tracking data, as well as pilot and aircraft maintenance records, and weather information."

Sky News AU
4 days ago
- Sky News AU
Flight examiner involved in fatal Oakey plane crash was a war veteran with more than 14,000 flight hours
The two men who tragically died in a plane crash in Queensland over the weekend have been identified as an investigation is launched into the cause of the incident. The aircraft, which belonged to Aero Logistics, an Archerfield, Queensland, based aircraft charter and rental service, was a 35-year-old French made twin turboprop Reims Cessna F406. About 3.10pm on Sunday, regional emergency responders were called to Devon Park near Oakey, west of Toowoomba, after reports of a plane crash. In a statement, police said the two male occupants of the aircraft were declared dead at the scene. Aero Logistics chief executive Ben Smee revealed on Monday the deceased was a pilot and an external flight examiner. Robert 'Bob' Molony and Wayne Saunders were the pilot and flight examiner who took to the sky on Sunday from Warwick Airport. 'This is a terrible tragedy for the two people on-board the aircraft and their families, friends and workmates,' he said. 'This is a devastating loss for everyone who knew them. 'We have offered our support and assistance to their families as they come to terms with the situation. We have also made counselling services available for our staff.' According to the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau, an investigation could take up to six weeks to determine the cause of the crash. Mr Molony only had partial radio contact before the aircraft crashed into a cow paddock, reported The Courier Mail. The pilot, born in Brisbane, joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1965 and was deployed to South Vietnam as a Canberra bomber navigator, and amassed more than 14,000 flight hours over his career. He left the Air Force in 1985 and became a CASA certified flight examiner and worked in Australia and Papua New Guinea with operations worldwide. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said the investigation had begun with a team of investigators from Brisbane and Cairns conducting the probe. 'Investigators will conduct a range of evidence-gathering activities, including site and wreckage examination, and recovery of any aircraft components for further examination at the ATSB's technical facilities in Canberra,' the statement said. 'Investigators will also seek to interview involved parties, and collect relevant recorded information including flight tracking data, as well as pilot and aircraft maintenance records, and weather information."

ABC News
5 days ago
- ABC News
Pilots killed in Oakey plane crash were carrying out mandatory training, ATSB says
Two men killed in a plane crash in Queensland on Sunday afternoon are believed to have been conducting a mandatory pilot proficiency check moments before their aircraft hit the ground. Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigators believe the plane, which took off south of Toowoomba at Warwick, was attempting an instrument landing system (ILS) approach to Oakey Army Aviation Centre at the Swartz Barracks when the crash occurred at Oakey at about 3pm. The aircraft burst into flames, killing both men instantly. Aviation specialist service Aero Logistics confirmed that one of its pilots was killed in the crash. Chief executive Ben Smee said the pilot had been working with an external flight examiner. "This is a terrible tragedy for the two people onboard the aircraft and their families, friends and workmates," he said in a statement. Today ATSB investigators have been scouring through the wreckage and investigating the history of the aircraft and the two men on board. "We still don't have access to all maintenance records — they're part of what we're routinely get over the course of the next couple of days," ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said. The Reims-Cessna F406 Caravan, a twin turbo-prop 12-seater aircraft built in France in 1990, had been in Australia for 13 years, according to the ATSB. In 2014 the ATSB assessed the aircraft after one of its pilots suffered hypoxia during a flight. That investigation concluded there had been an error with the plane's oxygen system when it was above 10,000 feet and the issue was rectified. Mr Mitchell confirmed that the fault found in 2014 was "unlikely to be associated with what occurred" during Sunday's crash. Recent flight-log data showed the aircraft had made numerous flights in the same area and around Emerald in central Queensland in the days leading up to the crash. Mr Mitchell said flight data could play a key role in determining the cause of the crash. "A small aircraft like this is quite likely to have some sort of recording devices … what state they're going to be in is something that will determine later on," he said. "There are other recording devices, whether that be mobile phones, iPads, that we can often recover from site, and anything that's been recorded, whether that be radar traffic, and radio traffic." Mr Mitchell could not confirm whether a "mayday" call had been made prior to the crash. "[The plane] left Warwick about 40 minutes prior to the accident," he said. "There is some of that circling that was done around the Oakey [area], but whether Oakey [Swartz Barracks] was an intended destination or simply part of the training and part of the proficiency check for the pilot we're yet to clarify." The Oakey Army Aviation Centre has an ILS – a ground-based navigation system – installed to allow aircraft to land in any weather. An Australian Defence Force spokesperson said flying over a restricted area must be avoided unless in an emergency, according to minutes from the Brisbane Airport Commmunity Airspace Advisory Board Meeting in February. The meeting minutes also advise that civilian aircraft may make requests to air traffic control in restricted Defence areas, including military bases, for emergencies only. ATSB preliminary reports are likely to take between six and eight weeks to complete, according to Mr Mitchell. "A preliminary report is very much an assessment of the facts as we know them — quite often that will be a very good indication of the sequence of events that occurred," he said. "We will look at the history of the aircraft, what is it normally being used for and what potentially differed yesterday to have such a tragic outcome that two families are obviously grieving for today and more broadly an aviation community."