A recovery operation is underway for a pilot believed to have been killed in a plane crash after the discovery of wreckage.
The aircraft was on a private flight from Wangaratta in Victoria to Moruya on the NSW South Coast on Tuesday.
It was reported missing when it did not arrive.
Bega accountant David Stephens, 74, was believed to be the only person aboard the Beechworth Debonair light plane. He was last seen in Wangaratta when his plane was inspected before takeoff.
“Unfortunately, David disappeared on his flight home … It is known that the mountain weather can turn very quickly and we have to assume he must have seen a way over the mountain and decided not to turn back to Wangaratta,” Stephens’ family said earlier on Thursday.
“David has quite a bit of experience flying that plane, but we can’t know what situation he was facing and we’ll only have answers once they locate the plane and with that, David.”
The plane was last recorded on GPS near Dargals Trail in the Kosciuszko National Park.
Poor weather hampered the search for the plane but the inter-agency operation eventually found the wreckage about 4pm on Thursday, 10 kilometres east of Khancoban in the Snowy Mountains.
“You wouldn’t recognise it as an aeroplane,” NSW Police Superintendent Andrew Spliet said of the wreckage on Friday.
“It’s a significant impact, a fair bit of speed into the mountain range which has completely destroyed that aircraft.
“It wouldn’t be survivable.”
Police have not yet been able to recover a body or formally identify the pilot due to the steep terrain, heavy snow and inclement weather in the area.
Stephens’ family said he had nearly 60 years flying experience, and was an aero club member.
“David loved to fly. He earned his pilot’s licence even before his driver’s licence in the 1960s,” they said.
“He was only two months out from retiring and his family was looking forward to spending time with him.”
The search and subsequent recovery operation involved helicopters from NSW and Victoria, along with State Emergency Service, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Snowy Hydro and alpine specialist staff.
The impact of Tuesday’s poor weather and whether there were any flight warnings would form part of the investigation into the crash, Spliet said.
Australia’s aviation safety watchdog has begun an investigation and will provide a preliminary report in about two months.
Tracking data, weather information and maintenance records will all form part of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s probe.
“Should a critical safety issue be identified during the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify relevant parties so safety action can be taken,” the bureau said.
-with AAP
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