Fatal crash put down to empty tanks

By Eugene Bingham

Just six minutes after take-off from Stewart Island on August 19 last year, pilot Robin Andrews knew something was wrong.

As the engines fell silent, the 51-year-old desperately adjusted engine-control levers and flicked the Cessna 402's fuel-selector knobs, trying to stop the disaster about to unfold.

Crash investigators have concluded that there was nothing he could have done: it is likely the plane ran out of fuel.

Mr Andrews and four passengers died in the icy waters of Foveaux Strait, waiting for help to arrive following the copybook crash-landing. Among the dead were 7-year-old Russell Chisholm, who died in his father's arms before rescuers arrived.

A Transport Accident Investigation Commission report released yesterday could not conclusively establish the cause of the double engine failure.

But senior investigator John Goddard has concluded it may have been fuel exhaustion.

Mr Goddard said the company had failed to implement a fuel-monitoring system as a backup to gauges on the plane, and this was unsafe.

Crucial records to track fuel consumption were also inaccurate.

The report also found that company pilots wrongly believed the aircraft had a low-fuel warning system, and that this might have influenced the company policy on fuel monitoring.

While paperwork showed the plane was refuelled twice, the company insisted it had also received an earlier top-up.

Calculations based on the assumption of three refuels showed there should have been enough to complete the flight, "albeit below company and aircraft flight manual minima for take-off."

"The cause of the loss of power from both engines could not be conclusively established by the investigation. There was no evidence of mechanical failure of either engine or of critical ancillaries such as fuel system components and magnetos.

"While it could not be conclusively established, fuel exhaustion may have caused the double engine failure."

Southern Air's managing director, Alan Aitcheson, said he did not accept some of the criticisms and disputed the possibility the fuel tank ran empty.

"Robin is such a finicky pilot there is no way Robin would have hopped into the aircraft that did not have enough fuel.

"It's not even a possibility at all. We know him and we've had all our own fuel sheets checked out and we come up with the same conclusion."

Mr Aitcheson said the cause would always be a mystery.

Mr Andrew's widow, Anna, said fuel could have run out only if there had been leaks. She believed the cause of the accident was an "act of God."

Inspector Tony O'Neill, of the Invercargill police, said the police would look at the report to see if inquiries were needed.

It is understood police action is unlikely because no conclusive cause has been established.

Invercargill coroner Trevor Savage, who was awaiting the report, will now continue his inquiry, which will also deal with a delay of more than an hour between the ditching and the discovery of the first survivors.

Mr Goddard said confusion among rescue authorities about the crash site meant the coastguard was delayed for up to 10 minutes.

However, the commission found that the major impediment to an earlier rescue was that aerial searchers had difficulty spotting the survivors.