'there Was No Mayday'
Sun Herald
Sunday November 9, 2008
THEY were bound for Port Macquarie, one to contest a triathlon today, three to cheer her on.
But an interstate adventure ended in tragedy for the four Victorians when their light plane crashed into a field outside Bathurst.Killed were pilot Tim O'Brien, his partner and triathlete Jacalyne Sherlock, their friend Erin Condon, 40 - a senior constable with Victoria Police - and her son, Matthew, 9.Witnesses said they saw the twin-engine plane flying almost on its side before crashing into a hill north of Bathurst Airport on Limekilns Road at 8.30pm on Friday. The plane exploded on impact, spreading debris for about 400 metres.Yesterday, Rex Condon, father of Erin and grandfather of Matthew, paid tribute to his daughter."I thought of her not only as my daughter but as a friend, a very close friend, a good girl, independent, a little bit assertive because of the nature of her job," he said. "It's going to be a big void in our life, physically and emotionally."The Piper PA-31-350 Navajo - owned and operated by Mr O'Brien - left Melbourne on Friday. It stopped to refuel at Bathurst Airport and had just taken off when it crashed about five kilometres from the airport.Model plane flyer John Flanagan saw the plane just before the crash."It didn't look right. It was like it was going to land but it was way too high," he said.Yesterday Chifley Local Area Commander Superintendent Mick Goodwin said: "I have visited the scene and it can only be described as carnage."A radio transmission was shared between the plane and Melbourne Central saying they had taxied out and had become airborne. At this stage it is still being investigated to see if any other transmissions were made, but there was no mayday call."It was quite possible the plane was attempting to return to the airport."Terry Davenport, who was a friend of Mr O'Brien for 15 years, said he was a great father to three sons, a generous friend and a meticulous pilot."He's just a person who'd help wherever he could," Mr Davenport said. "He was a giver of time and money. He was always there to help someone who was in trouble."In 2004, Mr O'Brien - then a pilot with mercy service Angel Flight - flew a sick boy from Deniliquin to Victoria."Having been a pilot from a very young age I still find flying quite magical, and then to pick up someone who is quite sick, it was like being an angel picking him up," he said at the time. "It was a real delight seeing this obviously sick little boy sitting up front with me enjoying all the gauges and maps."Mr Davenport said Ms Sherlock was "the love of his life"."They'd recently met and fallen in love and booked their tickets to Bali yesterday, to spend some time together. "[She] was a beautiful, deeply spiritual person and they were made for each other. "They had the whole spiritual thing happening - that was pretty special between the two of them."Peter Gibson from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority said specialist investigators would reconstruct debris to determine what caused the tragedy."Often it's many factors coming together ... it's a series of things happening at once," he said.Four investigators from the Air Transport Safety Bureau in Canberra examined the site yesterday. Their aim was to put out a preliminary report on the crash within 30 days. A full investigation and report could take up to 12 months.
© 2008 Sun Herald
