BruceK
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[/QUOTE]We were in Little Jerusalem the day of the retrieval. Fortunately the News helos avoided each other, the terrain, and the water. Today the seaplanes were operating again,we had a good view of them slowly climbing as they follow the river east.Ok as i now see it talking to other's there on the day left Cottage point struggling to get up turned into Jerusalem Bay but now with a tail wind and no lift turned right before Pinta but stalled Dropped 100meters nose first massive crash on impact .
As I said as I see it
Using Pinta Bay as the reported site, he travelled about 3500 meters, including the takeoff run, which could have easily been 1000, depending on the wind and surface conditions. The width of the channel at the headlands bracketing Pinta Bay is 250-300 meters, a bit more if you ride the shore, and any NE wind would help. Enough for a well-executed turn, but not much margin and probably not do-able from anything like mid-channel.
Reports of the aircraft falling off on the right wing seem significant.
Neither me or anyone I`ve talked with ever saw a seaplane in Jerusalem Bay. My thoughts are something was wrong before heading in there. Maybe continuing on was deemed the worse option, due to approaching terrain and a slow climb rate, than turning into Jerusalem. Accidents often have more than one causal component. The "runway" is not dedicated, it is shared with vessels of all kinds. Lots of possibilities, including the plane may not have entered Jerusalem Bay direct from the take off route.
Australia is quite good at aircraft incident inquiries( possible exception of the Pel Air Ambulance ditching off Lord Howe Island).
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