WA: Willy-willy, no safety belt contributed to death: report

AAP General News (Australia)
12-11-2007
WA: Willy-willy, no safety belt contributed to death: report

PERTH, Dec 11 AAP - Dangerous willy-willies and a failure to use safety belts contributed
to the death of a baby and a man in a light plane crash in Western Australia's north,
a safety report found.

The Cessna left a cattle mustering area on Mt Vernon station, in the state's Pilbara
region, on its way back to the homestead, a 10 minute flight away, on September 1, 2006.

On board were the pilot, two adult passengers, a child and a baby sitting on a woman's
lap. It is not known whether the woman was the infant's mother.

A report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) released today found the
pilot and a man sitting in the front two seats were not using their shoulder harnesses
and the baby was being held by the woman but was not otherwise restrained.

During the flight both the pilot and passengers noticed willy-willies, vortexes of
rising hot air, in the area.

As the plane came in to land it hit turbulence, the pilot lost control and the aircraft
plunged into an almost vertical nosedive, crashing into the ground from a height of about
300 to 350ft, the report found.

The pilot, the woman and the child were injured, and the man and the baby, whose age
and sex have not been released, were killed.

Julian Walsh, deputy director of aviation safety investigations at the ATSB, said the
willy-willies probably led to the crash and the lack of safety belts made serious injuries
more likely.

"There may have been some reduction in the severity of the injuries of the people if
there had been better restraints," Mr Walsh said.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has announced it will begin new public education
campaigns on the importance of child restraints and the dangers of flying near willy-willies.

AAP np/maur/jlw

KEYWORD: PLANE

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