Victim`s family pays tribute to pilot

Parents of a nurse killed in a light plane crash in Sydney say the pilot would have
done all he could to try to avert disaster.
Pilot Andrew Wilson, 27, and nurse Kathy Sheppard, 48, died when the Piper PA-31P
twin engine plane travelling from Bankstown, in Sydney's southwest, to Brisbane
crashed at Canley Vale just after 8am (AEST) on Tuesday.
Mr Wilson had declared an emergency just 20 minutes after take-off from Bankstown
Airport and was returning from the Richmond area before the plane went down about
5km from the runway.
Mr Wilson's family spoke to the media on Wednesday, with his mother saying flying
was his great ambition.
"He's a wonderful son, I couldn't fault him in any way. He worked hard to achieve
his goals. He always wanted to fly," Anne Baker told the Seven Network.
Ms Sheppard's parents, Noel and Shirley Martin, paid tribute to their daughter and
to the pilot.
"I know Kathy always had one of the best pilots with her," Mr Martin told the Seven
Network.
"He acted as a pilot should act, I think he did everything possible."
Ms Sheppard leaves behind four daughters, including Erin who got her pilot's licence
in the mail on Tuesday.
She called her partner moments before the plane crashed as Mr Wilson battled at the
controls.
It was a miracle that scores of children were not at ground zero when the plane
crashed and burst into flames into the front yard of a house on a suburban street,
next door to Canley Vale Public School.
Next to the crash site is a school driveway that teachers use, and which students
cross on their way to school.
Canley Vale Public School principal Cheryl McBride was just 150m away in her car
when the plane struck a power pole and exploded on impact.
"Had I been 20 seconds earlier it would have been different matter for me or for
another teacher waiting to go into that driveway," she told AAP.
She was also amazed that no one was closer to the crash site.
"You'd literally have up to 50 children at a time walking along that road, waiting
to cross over," Ms McBride said.
"Even at five past eight in the morning I am still stunned that there was not a
teacher or a family seriously injured or in fact killed."
Teachers in the vicinity grabbed every child they could and rushed them to the back
of the school, Ms McBride said, before emergency crews evacuated everyone to a
nearby park.
"The absolute fortune and luck and timing is just incredible," she said.
Seven people, four adults and three children, were taken to Liverpool Hospital
suffering emotional distress after witnessing the explosion.
On Wednesday, the school held a general assembly of students and made counselling
available to those affected by the crash.
NSW Premier Kristina Keneally expressed her condolences and hoped witnesses were
coping with the experience.
"This is a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with the families (of those
killed)," Ms Keneally told reporters in Sydney.
"And it certainly would have been distressing for those people who witnessed the
accident, particularly young children who witnessed or were involved in the
accident."
Ms Keneally would not pre-empt the Australian Transport Safety Bureau's (ATSB)
findings and refused to comment on media reports that safety standards at Bankstown
Airport were substandard.
The safety bureau expects to release a preliminary report on the crash in 30 days
after examining official automatic voice recordings from Air Services Australia and
weather conditions at Richmond.
Asia-Pacific Aerospace Report editor Peter Ricketts said the ATSB might have
difficulty determining the cause of the crash.
"How they'll ever sort out that stack of molten metal is beyond me," Mr Ricketts
told AAP.
He also said it would be rare for both engines on a plane to fail and did not rule
out a possible fuel problem.
"It is very unusual ever to see an aeroplane with real engine trouble," Mr Ricketts
said.
Police made an appeal on Wednesday to anyone who may have witnessed the plane's
movements to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.