Sydney: Authorities have found the wreckage of a plane that went missing in eastern Australia, describing the crash as unsurvivable.
An emergency search was launched on Tuesday when the light aircraft, which was being piloted by 74-year-old sole occupant David Stephens, failed to reach its intended destination at a regional airport south of Sydney in the state of New South Wales (NSW).
NSW Police confirmed on Friday that the wreckage of the plane, a single-engine 1966 Beechcraft Debonair 35-C33, was found by a rescue helicopter around 4 pm on Thursday in the state’s Snowy Mountains region, Xinhua news agency reported.
Superintendent Andrew Spliet told reporters that the plane had been completely destroyed in the crash and that it was “fairly clear it wouldn’t be survivable.”
On July 17, an emergency search was underway for a light aircraft that failed to arrive at its destination in eastern Australia.
A multi-agency search for the missing aircraft commenced on Wednesday and resumed on Thursday morning, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on Thursday.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said in a statement that the plane had departed from Wangaratta, 340 km west of Moruya in the state of Victoria, and that its last known position was in NSW’s Snowy Mountains near the town of Khancoban, approximately halfway along its route.
It said that a jet and helicopters were conducting a search from the air, but that weather conditions were challenging with low clouds and restricted visibility.
NSW Police, the State Emergency Service, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and personnel from a nearby hydroelectric plant are conducting a ground search.
Snow showers and temperatures as low as one degree Celsius were forecast for Khancoban on Thursday.
(IANS)
