Family breaks silence after plane crash
The family of the four people killed in a horror plane crash have spoken for the first time since the disaster.
Peter Nally, 65, and his three grandchildren – Raphael, 11, Evita, nine, and Philomena, six – died after the light plane Peter was flying crashed near Canberra at about 2:50pm on Friday.
“There are no words to describe the grief our family is feeling at this time,” members of the Nally family said in a short statement issued via NSW Police.
“We are appreciative of the overwhelming support we continue to receive from our extended family and friends as well as the local community.”
“As we are still coming to terms with our loss, we ask that the media respect our privacy while we grieve and process this tragedy.”
Mr Nally, an experienced pilot from Bunya, Qld, was flying his three grandchildren back to his daughter Elyse’s home in Armidale, northern NSW, after visiting family in Ainslie, a Canberra suburb.
The Cirrus SR22 light plane they were travelling in lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly after taking off from Canberra airport at 2:30pm.
Chilling audio captured controllers’ frantic attemps to contact Mr Nally, without success.
Within minutes the plane crashed, bursting into flames at a rural property near Lake George in the NSW Tablelands.
The vehicle was completely destroyed upon impact, killing everyone on board instantly.
Emergency services responded after being called to the scene by a witness who saw flames from the wreckage.
Fire crews were able to extinguish the blaze but there was no hope for those on board.
Investigations are ongoing as to what caused the deadly crash with initial reports suggesting the plane’s built-in parachute system failed to deploy.
“Over coming days, investigators with experience in aircraft operations and maintenance will conduct a range of evidence-gathering activities on site,” the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said in a statement on Saturday.
It could take up to 8 weeks for a preliminary report into the disaster to be published, according to the ATSB.
The plane the family were travelling in was in excellent condition and weather conditions on Friday were ideal for flying, The Daily Telegraph reported.
