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PERTH - Air safety investigators today will begin combing the wreckage of a fatal light plane for clues as to why it went down close to Western Australia's Esperance Airport.
Edward William Green, 62, was flying friends Norman Wright and Glenn Pitchers, both 49, from Perth to Esperance on Saturday night when their single engine Piper Arrow plane crashed in a paddock.
The three bodies were found just a few nautical miles from their intended destination of Esperance Airport, 725km south of Perth, after a widespread search yesterday.
A team of three Air Safety and Transport Bureau (ATSB) investigators will take control of the crash site this morning but will continue to work with forensic police.
Before starting work collecting physical evidence, ATSB spokesman Ian Sangston said the investigators would ensure the accident site was safe.
"They will do an overview of the accident site initially as there can be sometimes dangerous components associated with an aeroplane," Mr Sangston said.
The investigators will spend between three and five days among the wreckage and interviewing potential witnesses.
The ATSB will release a preliminary report after 30 days and fuller findings in six months.
- AAP
