Conflict has erupted within the national aircraft aerobatics fraternity in the wake of the death of amateur pilot Rob Morgan in South Australia at the weekend.
Australian Aerobatic Club South Australia president Dave Foord yesterday hit out at NSW-based former club president Paul Bennet, who had said Mr Morgan, 33, was too inexperienced to be flying the highly modified Pitts Special S2-S biplane and did not have the ability to safely engage in solo freestyle aerobatics.
Mr Foord yesterday slammed the comments as "sickening" and said he had confronted Mr Bennet, who stood by his remarks.
Mr Foord said renowned aviator Chris Sperou, a 13-time winner of the Australian Aerobatic Championships, had spent a year training Mr Morgan.
"Chris coached Rob for about 100 hours of flying in the past 12 months, so Rob was extremely experienced and well coached," Mr Foord said.
"He may not have had a whole lot of experience in the aircraft when he left Maitland where it was put together with Paul Bennet, but he certainly had constant supervision and coaching from Chris Sperou and some other very experienced pilots."
Mr Morgan died after his plane crash-landed in a paddock about 11am on Sunday near the Pallamana airstrip, 9km northwest of Murray Bridge.
Mr Morgan, who was not married and had no children, lived in Murray Bridge, 75km southeast of Adelaide, where he worked as an earthmoving contractor. It is understood he was attempting aerial tricks before he crashed and planned to compete for the first time in the Victorian Aerobatic Championships next month.
Mr Bennet, the 2009 Australian Unlimited Aerobatic Champion, said Mr Morgan had been "too inexperienced with this plane, and that's the problem . . . I warned him about it".
Mr Bennet helped assemble the plane when it was imported from the US in November 2010.
Mr Foord yesterday said he was shocked by Mr Bennet's comments.
"I have spoken to Paul about what he said and he stands by that, but Rob had been assessed for low-level aerobatics," Mr Foord said. "Paul Bennet is no doubt a very experienced man, but he's not the only person who can fly aerobatics."
Mr Bennet, a former president of the Australian Aerobatic Club, said he had helped Mr Morgan assemble the single-seater Pitts Special S2-S plane after it was imported from the US late last year.
Mr Morgan, 33, had paid about $75,000 for the machine, favoured worldwide by aerobatic pilots, but had only a month of training last November, Mr Bennet said.
"Rob was inexperienced with this plane and that's the problem.
"He was too inexperienced to be flying that plane, no question about it. I warned him about it.
"But what do you do? If a bloke has the money to buy a plane and doesn't have the ability, then what do you do?" he said.
"I tried to get him to training with (respected aviator) Phil Unicomb. He started training with Phil Unicomb and Action Aerobatics in Maitland and then he didn't finish his training. He wanted to take the plane home, so he took it.
"I did have a lot to do with his training and I warned him his training was not up to speed to fly that aeroplane.
"He was up in Newcastle for a month training but he didn't do enough hours, he didn't do enough training to be good at that aeroplane. Most of his training was learning to land it, not learning to fly it."
The fatal accident happened about 11am yesterday near the Pallamana airstrip, 9km northwest of Murray Bridge.
Mr Morgan, who was not married and had no children, lived in Murray Bridge, 75km southeast of Adelaide.
It is understood he was attempting aerial tricks before he crashed, and had planned to compete for the first time in the Victorian Aerobatic Championships next month.
Mike Chapman, the chief flying instructor with the Murray Bridge Light Aircraft Flying School, was one of two people observing when the crash occurred.
"There was no airshow or anything going on. There were two witnesses," Mr Chapman said yesterday.
"I knew the pilot personally and he was flying privately. He wasn't associated with the school at all.
"He was a gifted pilot. The investigation will come up with what happened in the end, but he was an aerobatic pilot.
"There was always a risk with this and that's why people like watching airshows, because they know it's not easy to do."
But Mr Bennet, the 2009 Australian Unlimited Aerobatic Championship winner who runs Newcastle-based Maxx-G Aerobatics and specialises in airshows, said the tragedy should never have happened.
Mr Bennet said he had flown the plane to South Australialast month on the understanding Mr Morgan was to seek more training.
"However, he didn't," Mr Bennet said. "I'd been very worried about him ever since flying the plane down there.
"I tried warning others about this, but it fell on deaf ears."
Mr Bennet said it was his understanding that when the crash occurred, Mr Morgan was engaging in freestyle aerobatics.
"It was nothing to do with aerobatic competition," he said.
"He was intending to compete. However, what he was doing when he crashed was not competition aerobatic manoeuvres.
"It was airshow-type manoeuvres such as tumbling.
"He was tumbling too low and went into a spin and crashed."
Australian Aerobatic Club South Australia president Dave Foord yesterday said Mr Morgan was a talented pilot with a love of flying.
"He was top bloke," he said.
A spokesman for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau yesterday said investigators would assist police if required.
"Police are doing an investigation for the coroner and we've offered any technical assistance they feel they might need in terms of laboratory examination," the spokesman said.
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