Seaplane crash: Detectives 'investigating pilot's state of mind' before disaster that killed British family

Investigators are said to be looking into pilot Gareth Morgan's mindset, including his political and religious leanings

Gareth Morgan, the pilot of the seaplane (Facebook)

Accident investigators are believed to be looking into the state of mind of the pilot of the Australian seaplane that crashed on New Year’s Eve, killing him and a British family of five.

Detectives were reported to have spent over three hours talking to the flatmates of Gareth Morgan, 44, who died alongside Compass Group chief executive Richard Cousins, 58, his magazine executive fiancée Emma Bowden, 48, her daughter Heather, 11, and his sons William, 25, and Edward, 23.

Australia’s Daily Telegraph said investigators had also asked to look at the pilot’s bedroom in the Sydney property, and would be examining every aspect of Mr Morgan’s mental state, including his political and religious leanings.

The newspaper also said that an autopsy performed on Wednesday to establish Mr Morgan’s cause of death would have looked at whether he had drugs or alcohol in his system.

There have been past cases where passenger plane pilots have deliberately caused crashes, most notoriously when Andreas Lubitz, who had received treatment for suicidal tendencies, smashed a Germanwings jet into the French Alps in 2015.

In the seaplane incident, however, it is understood that the examination of Mr Morgan’s state of mind is just a routine part of the investigation and in no way based on any suggestion that he might have deliberately caused the crash.

Mr Morgan's flatmate Luke Thornley told the Daily Telegraph: “As far as we are aware, Gareth was fine and happy and didn't give the impression anything was wrong.”

Mr Thornley added that Mr Morgan had been looking forward to starting a new job with the Qantas airline.

'He went for runs every morning,” said Mr Thornley, “And was excited at the prospect of becoming a commercial pilot for Qantas, and was studying for exams.”

The investigation of Mr Morgan’s state of mind came as it was reported that the DHC-2 Beaver seaplane had previously been involved in another fatal crash, in 1996.

Air crash investigation records seen by Reuters show a plane with the same serial number crashed when it was being used as a crop duster.

Reuters said that the 1996 accident report found that the DHC-2 Beaver had probably stalled in gusty conditions, killing the pilot.

One possible cause of the 2017 crash is that the seaplane stalled. A September 2017 Canadian study that followed a fatal crash involving another DHC-2 Beaver recommended that stall warning systems be made mandatory on the aircraft.

It is understood that after the 1996 accident, the DHC-2 Beaver was rebuilt, going on to be used by several companies before being bought by Sydney Seaplanes, the firm that owned it when it crashed on New Year’s Eve.

Experts said that after the 1996 crash, the plane would have been completely overhauled before re-use so it was at least as good as, if not better than new.

A spokesman for Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority told Reuters: "It was repaired after the accident and all appropriate approvals and checks were done. It was then re-registered and went back into service."

It is also thought that after every 1,200 hours of flying time, if not before, the seaplane would have been given a new engine.

On Thursday, investigators recovered the wreckage of the plane from the Hawkesbury River near Cowan, 40 km (25 miles) north of Sydney.

The seaplane had plunged into the river while Mr Morgan was taking Mr Cousins, Ms Bowden and their children on a short tourist trip from a riverfront restaurant to Rose Bay in the east of Sydney.

Police divers wrapped slings around the fuselage and a barge fitted with a small crane slowly lifted the wreck, upside down and without wings, from about 13 metres of water near Cowan.

The propeller, cockpit and front section of fuselage were crumpled, and the landing floats were raised separately. The pieces were loaded on to the barge deck and covered with a tarpaulin,

A preliminary report into the crash is expected in about 30 days, with a final report taking up to 12 months, according to Australian Transport Safety Bureau executive director Nat Nagy, who told reporters:

"We are reasonably confident that we will be able to do a thorough examination of the key components of the aircraft, to understand whether they were operating correctly at the time.”