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The pilot of a plane that crashed last year in an Australian mall, killing him and his four US passengers, did not properly check the plane before takeoff, said Monday investigators.
Australian pilot Max Quartermain radioed "Mayday" seven times in 10 seconds, but did not explain the urgency before the plane was plunged into the Direct Factory Outlet mall in Essendon, a suburb of Melbourne. I said.
The investigators' final report indicated that the twin-engine Beechcraft King Air B200 rudder was completely in a dive position instead of being neutral before take-off, and the pilot did not detect the error. .
"The position of the rudder trim resulted in directional loss of control and had a significant impact on the climb performance of the aircraft in the latter part of the flight," the report says.
The plane turned left after takeoff and reached a maximum height of 49 meters before crashing against the mall and its parking lot. The investigation also revealed that the aircraft was overloaded with fuel, but that its heavy weight did not contribute to the accident.
"The operator did not have an appropriate flight control system," the statement added.
Quartermain, 63, was killed along with passengers Greg Reynolds De Haven, Russell Munsch, Glenn Garland and John Howard Washburn, all of whom lived in the Austin, Texas area.
They were traveling to King Island, 250 kilometers south of Melbourne, during a golf trip.
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