A two day search for a vintage plane carrying six passengers ended after authorities used mobile phone technology – one of the phones on board was still working which meant the authorities were able to locate the aircraft.
It was hoped there would be survivors on the de Havilland DH84 Dragon aircraft. The search was problematic; the terrain was too rough for a helicopter to land, so a recue chopper was especially called into the scene, meanwhile a doctor and paramedic walked to the crash site.
Chief Mike Barton explained closer to the time that it was a “high impact site,” reported News.com.au.
“The scene is 14km northwest of the Borumba Dam wall,” continued Barton, “A spotter in a chartered helicopter saw a piece of red or crimson wreckage not in a condition that you would recognise as a plane.
“The plane is fundamentally destroyed.”
There were four phones on the plane when it took off with passengers Kath Porter, 61, Les D’evlin, 75 and Jan D’evlin, 61, John Dawson, 63, and Carol Dawson, 63, plus pilot Des Porter, 68.
Maps of the area showed that the peaks in the area are 400m high, often above cloud level.
