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The ATSB has begun investigations into the cause of a light aircraft crash at Shellharbour Airport near Wollongong over the weekend.
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A Piper PA-32R Cherokee Lance aircraft, carrying three people, crashed and caught fire on take-off at the airport on 11 October. All three people on board were fatally injured.
The aircraft was reportedly scheduled to travel from Shellharbour Airport at 10am towards Bathurst in the central west of NSW.
“The plane has taken off from the tarmac and has gotten about 30 metres into the air,” according to Lake Illawarra Police District Chief Inspector Aaron Wunderlich, speaking to ABC News regarding the crash.
“At that point, witnesses described the aircraft has then dipped with its left wing coming down and contacting the tarmac.”
More than a dozen NSW Rural Fire Service personnel rapidly responded to the crash after being diverted from a training exercise held at Shellharbour Airport.
ATSB investigators from Canberra and Melbourne are expected to investigate the cause of the crash, including analysis of weather conditions and the plane’s maintenance logs.
