The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has commenced a transport safety investigation into a collision with terrain accident east of Khancoban, in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains, involving a Beechcraft Debonair light aircraft.
The aircraft was conducting a private flight from Wangaratta, Victoria to Moruya on the New South Wales south coast on Tuesday, and was reported missing when it failed to arrive at its destination.
The ATSB commenced its investigation into the accident after an extensive aerial search located the aircraft wreckage on Thursday afternoon, in snow-covered mountainous terrain in the Kosciuszko National Park, east of Khancoban.
Investigators are working closely with the NSW Police to gather available evidence, including imagery of the accident site and any aircraft components containing recorded data that can be retrieved and recovered to the ATSB’s technical facilities in Canberra for download and analysis.
Investigators are also collecting relevant recorded information including ADS-B flight tracking data, weather information, and pilot and aircraft maintenance records.
The ATSB will provide a substantive update on the progress of the investigation when it releases a preliminary report, which will detail factual information established in the investigation’s evidence gathering phase, in about two months.
The investigation’s findings will be contained in a final report to be released at the conclusion of the investigation. That report will also detail the ATSB’s analysis of the evidence to support those findings.
However, should a critical safety issue be identified during the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify relevant parties so safety action can be taken.