Wreckage found near Ulladulla NSW 18 Sep 25

[red750]

Wreckage of a Cirrus SR20 has been found near Ulladulla. The aircraft was returning from a flight from Bankstown to Mallacoota. The pilot in his 60s is believed to be the only person on board.

 

[onetrack]

The crash location is actually in inaccessible terrain inside Budawang National Park. A search chopper has sighted the wreckage, but the pilot has not been sighted or found.

 

The crash site is inaccessible on foot, and inaccessible to ground vehicles. The search was suspended last night and resumed this morning, largely due to poor weather.

 

Grave fears are held for the pilot. Radar tracking shows the aircraft descended from 8250 feet to 2000 feet over a 25 minute period, and then disappeared off radar screens.

 

Inexplicably, the Cirrus SR20 (which belongs to a Bankstown Flying School) is reportedly equipped with a ballistic parachute, which should have reduced any crash severity.

 

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/grave-fears-held-for-nsw-man-after-light-plane-crash/news-story/83b305fc54a712b1cdfaa1990b21c01e

 

[onetrack]

Further news items state the pilot was on a flying training exercise, and had flown into Victoria, before returning into NSW.

 

The news items also states that a distress message was sent just prior to the aircrafts disappearance. Lost in IMC over the Budawang National Park, perhaps?

 

The photo supplied with the news article at bottom, shows an aircraft totally destroyed.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/light-plane-crashes-in-southern-nsw-on-return-to-sydney-20250918-p5mw8w.html

 

https://www.9news.com.au/national/search-to-resume-for-missing-pilot-after-nsw-light-plane-crash/690b45ca-41bc-48cf-8771-82626dc560b6

 

[red750]

Zooming in on the Flightradar 24 image above, the turning point appears to be about here:-

 

[facthunter]

Any one got details of the WEATHER. Nev

[Moneybox]

If he had time to send a distress signal you'd think he had time to deploy the parachute?

[BurnieM]

His height seems to indicate that he was setting up for the Nowra VFR lane (which starts on the coast at Ulladulla) at 2000ft but he was too far inland with lots of 2500-3500 peaks.

 

[Thruster88]

He was 4 hours into the flight with about 1 hour to go at speed he was going. Fuel would have been tight. A stop a Moruya for some fuel and a weather reset may have been prudent.  

[onetrack]

10 hours ago, Moneybox said:

If he had time to send a distress signal you'd think he had time to deploy the parachute?

The "distress signal" mentioned in media reports may not have been a radio message, it may have been a signal from an ELB being activated.

[onetrack]

The pilot has been confirmed as deceased and his body was recovered from the wreckage at around 2:00PM yesterday. The media report below indicates the "distress signal" was from an ELB.

 

https://www.ulladullatimes.com.au/story/9069975/body-recovered-after-plane-crash-in-national-park/

 

[skippydiesel]

Pedantic ;

• In aircraft its either an PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) or a ELT (Emergency Locator Beacon).
• Its an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) or PLB,  in the marine world, for exactly the same sort of devise.

PLB can be worn (transportable) while the others are usually fixed in aircraft/boat devises.😈

[ClintonB]

7 news reporting aircraft dropped from 24000m to 560m rapidly. Even if they stuffed up the measurements in feet, FL 24 is a bit high. Also reported final velocity 190kmh, doesn’t a cirrus travel around 120 knots plus normally. My old C182 did 120 in cruise.

sometimes a bit more research before reporting would be better. 
sad outcome all round regardless.

[BurnieM]

3 hours ago, ClintonB said:

7 news reporting aircraft dropped from 24000m to 560m rapidly. Even if they stuffed up the measurements in feet, FL 24 is a bit high. Also reported final velocity 190kmh, doesn’t a cirrus travel around 120 knots plus normally. My old C182 did 120 in cruise.

sometimes a bit more research before reporting would be better. 
sad outcome all round regardless.

Nope.

 

Have a look at FlightRadar - https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/vh-tel#3c420ba2

 

[Blueadventures]

6 minutes ago, BurnieM said:

Nope.

 

Have a look at FlightRadar - https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/vh-tel#3c420ba2

 

At 4:11 and :15 speed drops and loosing 2,000 ft not good and then looks like a recovery for a short time.

[BurnieM]

3 hours ago, skippydiesel said:

Pedantic ;

• In aircraft its either an PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) or a ELT (Emergency Locator Beacon).
• Its an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) or PLB,  in the marine world, for exactly the same sort of devise.

PLB can be worn (transportable) while the others are usually fixed in aircraft/boat devises.😈

A PLB is waterproof but is not required to float and has a battery life of 24 hours.

An EPIRB is waterproof and floats with a battery life of 48 hours.

ELTs transmit for 24 hours. Not sure what their other requirements are.

 

All transmit on 406.025 Mhz and the signal is relayed by satellites to rescue centres.

They also transmit on 121.5 Mhz for VHF homing.

 

You can purchase them with or without GPS receivers.

GPS receiver models give a more accurate fix and save search time and are a little more expensive.

 

You need to register all of them with AMSA and keep your details updated.