A SEAPLANE that crashed in Australia on New Year’s Eve, killing the boss of a leading British catering firm, his family and the pilot, had been rebuilt after being almost destroyed 20 years ago.
The De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, which dates back to 1964, had crashed in New South Wales killing the pilot in November 1996.
Investigators said the damage to the plane, which had been used to spray crops at the time, was so severe they wrote it off as “destroyed”.
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The report stated it had been had been carrying a full load of fuel and was beginning to dump a tonne of superphosphate when it went down. It had undergone routine maintenance two days before the crash.
In Sunday’s accident, Richard Cousins, 58, chief executive of the Ftse 100 listed Compass Group, died alongside his sons, Will, who was the head of press for pro-EU group Open Britain, and Edward.
Richard Cousin’s fiancee, Emma Bowden, 48, her 11-year-old daughter Heather and the Australian pilot Gareth Morgan also died.
As the plane was recovered from the Hawkesbury River, north of Sydney yesterday, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, said it was “aware of a previous incident with this aircraft.”
“There were a number of factors involved in that incident and that will be something we look at.
“It’s a matter of course and routine in any investigation to look at ... the individual aircraft history and any other incidents that may be relevant.”
The aircraft was owned by Sydney Seaplanes and the family had been returning from lunch.