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12.20am Reeling from the loss of a club member and fellow aviator, Wedderburn Sport Aircraft Club president Bret Cavanagh said Robert Greig’s loss would be felt deeply throughout the close-knit community of pilots.
‘‘Robert was widely known and widely liked, it’s a club of like-minded friends so he was a friend of everyone at the airfield and we’ll all obviously miss him,’’ he said.
Mr Greig was a highly experienced and versatile pilot capable of flying almost any aircraft that took his fancy, Mr Cavanagh said.
‘‘He was in fact a dual licensed pilot, he has a general aviation license and has a Recreational Aviation Australia license as well,’’ he said.
‘‘He has flown countless different aircraft over a long time, he was a highly competent pilot.’’
The Balgownie man’s passion for flying was ‘‘irrepressible’’ and his absence from the club would be noticed by all, Mr Cavanagh said.
11.30am A Balgownie pilot killed in a plane crash on the Illawarra escarpment late Tuesday was communicating with a second pilot who flew in tandem shortly before the accident.
Experienced airman Robert Greig set out from Wedderburn Airfield about 7.30pm in a camoflage-coloured "home built-style" light aircraft.
He navigated rain and heavy fog and became separated from the second pilot.
The men spoke mid-air, but Mr Greig gave no sign he was on fatal course, Wollongong Local Area Commander Supt Kyle Stewart said.
"We are advised by the pilot that was accompanying Mr Greig that there was no indication the aircraft had any kind of structural trouble," he said.
Kyle Stewart said the second pilot alerted police to the difficulties of the flight soon after he landed at The Illawarra Regional Airport as intended.
"He was unaware (Mr Greig) was in trouble until he was unable to contact him."
Search teams located the plane wreck on the escarpment floor about 600 metres west/south-west of Austinmer Scout Camp about 8am this morning, while Mr Greig's family waited for news close by.
Supt Stewart said a mobile phone carried by The father-of-two helped to pinpoint his location.
Rain and a low fog hampered the search effort Tuesday night and this morning, despite numerous northern suburbs residents contacting police to report seeing and hearing the crash.
The search was called off around midnight, then recommenced at 6.30am this morning.
Police Rescue and Forensic Services police entered the bush from Foothills Road about 9am on buggy to begin what is expected to be a long and complicated retrieval operation.
The wreck was found in slippery, wooded terrain.
"Given the ... really inhospitable terrain it will take us some time to complete our crime scene examination and to remove Mr Greig's body from the location," Supt Stewart said.
Supt Stewart said the aircraft would not have carried any sophisticated instrumentation or black box that could give investigators insight into how the crash occurred.
Mr Greig, 57, had been flying planes for four decades and had amassed thousands of hours in the air, police have been told.
The question of why he and the tandem pilot set out in Tuesday night's "marginal" conditions, remains.
"That's something that will be clearly subject to our investigations, Supt Stewart said.
"It would have been a very complex manoeuvre to have pilots flying in the conditions that they were flying in last night had hey not been equipped appropriately to do so, and/or trained appropriately to do so."
Police are seeking witnesses or people who heard the crash to make themselves known via Crimestoppers - 1800 333 000.
10.55am Wollongong Local Area Commander Supt Kyle Stewart has told media that pilot Robert Greig left Wedderburn air strip on Tuesday night with another plane.
"Mr Greig and one other aircraft had departed the Wedderburn airport, just near Campbelltown a short time prior to the collision last night and were making their way to the Albion Park airport when they ran into what was described as marginal weather conditions," Supt Stewart said.
He said the two aircraft then became separated from each other.
"We located the plane wreckage with the deceased pilot in it in an area just west of Austinmer and the Bulli escarpment," he said.
Supt Stewart said the plane wreckage was found in inhospitable terrain, and it could take some time to remove Mr Greig's body, and remove the wreckage.
Crime scene investigators are currently at the scene.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has confirmed it will not investigate the crash.
10.30am The pilot who died in a light plane crash west of Austinmer had four decades of flying experience. Emergency services found the single-seater plane wreckage with 57-year-old Robert Greig’s body inside, in rugged terrain on Wednesday morning. AAP
10.10am Police have identified the 57-year-old pilot as Robert Greig from Balgownie.
9.51am Police, police rescue and forensic services personnel have been seen going into the bush off Foothills Road in Austinmer in a 4-wheel police buggy.
9.48am Recreational Aviation Australia issued a press release about the crash with CEO Michael Linke saying his thoughts are with the pilot's family and confirming it was an amateur built aircraft.
“Recreational Aviation Australia is saddened to learn of a fatality in an aircraft registered with Recreational Aviation Australia and will be assisting NSW police during the investigation.
“Our thoughts go out to the pilot’s family at this difficult time.
“We cannot speculate at this stage as to the cause of the incident, we will continue to work with police and release a report in due course.”
“Recreational Aviation Australia currently administers over 3,200 aircraft and has over 10,000 members. We were founded on a principle of safe, accessible, enjoyable aviation. The aircraft involved in the accident at Sublime Point is an amateur built aircraft.
“One of the privileges of being a member of Recreational Aviation Australia includes the freedom to design and build your own aircraft. These amateur built aircraft comprise about a third of our fleet and are used for recreational private flying only.
“While members are free to build their own aircraft, there are processes of oversight to ensure safe standards are adhered to.
“In 2014 almost 30,000 hours and over 43,000 landings were flown in this category of aircraft across the country.
“All training is conducted in factory built, certified aircraft.”
9.45am Bret Cavanagh from the NSW Sport Aircraft Club, where the pilot was a member, told the Mercury the group had lost a friend.
He said he didn't want to comment until police had officially released the pilot's identity.
"It's not appropriate to comment ... there's going to be coroner's reports and CASA investigations ... it's just the right thing to do," he said.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is waiting to hear whether it will be tasked to the scene.
A spokesperson said as the wreckage had just been discovered, they were not sure yet whether they would dispatch a team.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is not involved in the investigation at the moment.
9.30am Michael Linke CEO of Recreational Aviation Australia confirmed the plane was registered with the organisation.
He said two Recreational Aviation Australia investigators had been dispatched to the scene of the crash to work with police.
"We've been invited to join the investigation and will prepare a report for the coroner," he said.
9.20am A police spokesperson has confirmed that shortly after 8am today a police team searching an escarpment near Austinmer located the wreckage of a plane with the body of a man, believed to be the 57-year-old pilot, inside.
Police are investigating the cause of the crash and a recovery operation is currently underway.
A report will be prepared for the Coroner.
Police will address the media following a fatal light-plane crash near Wollongong overnight.
9.15am Thirroul resident Frank Nowlan said he heard a loud bang behind his house on Treetop Glen at about 7.45pm on Tuesday.
Mr Nowlan likened the noise to two trains coming together.
‘‘Sometimes the freight trains come together and they make a loud noise, like they are shunting together,’’ he said.
8.55am The Sport Aircraft Club Wedderburn is a medium sized flying club with a a "few hundred" members according to one member who asked to remain anonymous.
About one third of the members come from the Wollongong area.
8.28am
Wollongong Police Inspector Phil O'Neill has told the Mercury the pilot of the plane is deceased. The search for the plane and pilot has now become a recovery operation. The pilot was a member of the Sport Aircraft Club Wedderburn.
8.20am The wreckage of a missing plane that crashed at Bull Tops has been located.
8.15am Wollongong SES local controller Steve Cliff has told Mercury reporter Angela Thompson this morning that the main problem facing search teams was the weather.
There are 16 SES volunteers from the Wollongong, Coniston and Shellharbour units searching the area in four teams.
One team was sent to the beach to look upwards into the bush; another is at the top of the escarpment. The remaining teams set off from the base of the Sublime Point walking track about 7am.
One will walk all the way to the top: the other has speared off onto Gibson Track.
7.45am Mercury photographer Kirk Gilmour snapped this shot of police talking this morning, ahead of resumed search efforts for a missing single-seater aircraft, with one man on board, which had left Wedderburn Airport earlier on Tuesday.
7.35am Wollongong Police Inspector Phil O'Neill has told the Mercury police are hoping the pilot of the missing plane is still alive. The inspector confirmed emergency services are aware of the identity of the pilot but weren't sure of his flight plan.
Insp O'Neill said the pilot had flown across the escarpment just before 8pm in bad weather when residents reported hearing a crash.
Emergency service crews searched for the plane until 11.30pm yesterday and resumed their efforts this morning.
SES volunteers, police and the NSW Rural Fire service are involved with the search.
Insp O'Neil confirmed teams had a rough idea of the search path but noted thick bush and the weather conditions were "against them".
He said the pilot's family were "quite distraught".
7.25am Wollongong SES local controller Steve Cliff told Mercury reporter Angela Thompson that the main problem facing search teams was the weather.
"There's persistent rain and low cloud, which means we're not able to currently get any aerial assistance in terms of helicopters ... we're reliant on ground crews".
The SES have 16 volunteers from the Wollongong, Coniston and Shellharbour units scouring bushland at the top of the escarpment. The party headed west towards the top at first light.
Other parties are searching nearby beaches and walking tracks.
Mr Cliff told the Mercury teams had been tasked to look for a fixed-wing single seater plane.
"It's going to be difficult to see from the ground and probably even the air, particularly if it's gone down and broken up, it may not be a single structure that we're looking for," he said.
UPDATE 7.10am: Search teams have assembled at Austinmer Rural Fire headquarters this morning, ready to search, after reports of a plane crashing into bushland overnight.
The SES sent search teams into the bush a short time ago.
The search effort is focusing on the area off Sublime Point track.
The SES have sent one team to the top of the track while another is heading south onto Gibson's Track.
TUESDAY: A massive air and ground search initiated on Tuesday night will resume at first light amid fears that a small aircraft has crashed in bushland at Bulli Tops.
While search crews had not found anything late last night, police had received reports of a missing single-seater aircraft, with one man on board, which had left Wedderburn Airport earlier on Tuesday.
NSW Police, Fire and Rescue and NSW Ambulance crews set up a command post at Sublime Point around 8pm, after police received several reports of a possible plane crash in the area.
Search crews had not found any sign of the aircraft by 11.20pm.
A NSW Police media spokeswoman said the initial triple-0 caller told police they heard what sounded like an aircraft, before a loud crash.
‘‘About 7.45pm, officers attached to Wollongong Local Area Command received reports of a loud bang overhead between Bulli Tops and Sublime Point,’’ the spokeswoman said.
Ground crews walked along the top edge of the escarpment through the bush, concentrating on a point midway between Sublime Point and Panorama House.
The NSW Ambulance rescue helicopter joined the search just before 10pm, using thermal imaging technology to locate the possible wreckage.
The search was called off just after 11pm and will recommence at first light - about 6.30am - on Wednesday.
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