INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightPA and FacebookImage caption
Victims (clockwise from top left) Richard Cousins, Emma Bowden, Will
Cousins, Gareth Morgan, Heather Bowden, Ed Cousins
Australian investigators have released the final pictures taken on board
a seaplane which plunged into a river last year, killing six people.Five members of a British family and a Canadian pilot died in the
incident north of Sydney on 31 December.Authorities are yet to release their findings on what caused the crash.But in an interim report
released on Thursday, investigators said photos and witness accounts had helped them to reconstruct the flight's final moments.The DHC-2
Beaver was on a sightseeing flight when it nose-dived into the Hawkesbury River at Jerusalem Bay, about 50km (30 miles) from the city
Heather and his sons, Edward, 23, and William, 25, and pilot Gareth Morgan, 44.Most of the wreckage was recovered by Australian authorities
in January.On Wednesday, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) released photos that had been recovered from a camera and a phone on
board.Image copyrightATSBImage caption
Pictures taken by the front seat passenger have helped to reconstruct events
Image copyrightATSBImage caption
A witness's photos from the ground, with labels by investigators which
refer to a local landmark
Investigators were able to use images taken by the front seat passenger to recreate the flight
path, the ATSB said.This was corroborated by the accounts and photos of a witness on the ground.ATSB director Nat Nagy said the evidence had
allowed investigators "to determine what happened in the lead-up to this accident".The photos had also helped investigators to establish the
seating positions of those on board, the report said.Earlier this year, the ATSB said the plane had made a steep right turn before entering
Flight operator Sydney Seaplanes described the action as "totally inexplicable".Image:Authorities recover the wreckage in
JanuaryInvestigators said they would further examine Mr Morgan's health and medical history, but he had appeared fine in the days before
the crash.He had more than 10,000 hours of flying experience, including about 9,000 hours on floatplanes
There was no voice or flight data recorder on board
Neither were required by regulations for an aircraft of such size, officials have said.The ATSB will release its final findings and
recommendations sometime in the next six months.
