Australian pilot killed after skydiving plane crashes off coast

Eight skydivers had jumped from a plane two minutes before it crashed off the New South Wales coast, killing the pilot.

Paul Smith, 54, died when a skydiving plane he was piloting crashed in Moruya about 1.2 miles from the airport shortly after 2 p.m. on Saturday.

NSW Police Inspector Justin Marks told reporters the skydivers safely jumped from the plane at about 14,000 feet just two minutes before it crashed.

“The aircraft has come to rest in thick bushland adjacent to George Bass Drive, while the wing has come to a rest on George Bass Drive itself,” he said.

Smith was a former skydiving company owner who had been skydiving for almost 40 years, with more than 10,000 hours logged as a pilot in command.

Late last year he was awarded the Australian Parachute Federation’s highest award – The Master of Sport Parachuting – for his contributions to the sport since he started in 1987, aged just 16.

Smith, the pilot, was dead at the scene.

He was the only person on-board the plane at the time of the crash.

“A crime scene has been established and will be examined by specialist officers,” police said in a statement.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has commenced a safety investigation into the accident.

“The ATSB is deploying a team of transport safety investigators from its Canberra and Brisbane offices, specializing in aircraft operations, maintenance and engineering, to the accident site,” the Bureau said in a statement.

“Investigators will conduct a range of evidence-gathering activities including site survey with a drone, wreckage examination, and recovery of any aircraft components for further examination at the ATSB’s technical facilities in Canberra.”

Chief commissioner Angus Mitchell told media it was too early to know if there were any problems in the air, but witnesses heard unusual sounds and flight patterns in the final moments.

Mitchell said the single-engine Pilatus Porter plane had only been operating in Australia for a month.

“It was built around 1980 in Switzerland and had been brought over from New Zealand,” he said.

“We do know there was a fairly substantive maintenance check done prior to bringing it to Australia.

“It had done a number of jumps over the past week and a half.”

The ATSB is asking anyone with video footage of the aircraft “at any phase of the flight, or in the immediate aftermath of the accident” to make contact via the witness form on their website.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 1800-333-000.