The Australian Transport Safety Board has completed its report into the fatal crash of Piper Saratoga VH-LKI at Moree, NSW, in March last year.
After spending the day inspecting cattle and property at Brewarrina, the pilot and four passengers returned to Moree, arriving overhead the airstrip after dark at 8.00 pm.
The aircraft clipped trees during the approach to runway 19 Moree and crashed into the ground 550 metres short of the threshold. The pilot and two passengers died, and two more passengers were seriously injured. The pilots was NVFR, but not current.
After completing the investigation, the ATSB established three contributing factors to the accident.
- Misinterpretation of the available visual cues for maintaining glidepath probably affected the pilot's ability to assess and correct the aircraft's low final approach altitude.
- The pilot continued the approach for runway 19 despite being below the normal approach profile.
- The reduced number of visual cues, combined with the pilot’s lack of night flying recency and low night flying experience, likely degraded the pilot’s performance and resulted in increased safety risk to the flight.
The ATSB also found the Saratoga was over maximum take-off weight and most likely had an aft centre of gravity that could have been outside the limits, which would have effected performance and pitch stability.
The full report is available on the ATSB website.