Pilot Anthony Duggan, 44, of Cockatoo Valley, and Garry Williams, 52, of Glenelg East, died when the two-seater plane crashed in a paddock between Rockford Wines and Villa Tinto Winery about 8am on Thursday.
The pair, who were flying in a Tecnam P96 Golf ultralight plane from Lyndoch to Mildura, have been remembered as popular, devoted and irreplaceable figures at their local football clubs.
Mr Williams last year coached PHOS Camden Football Club’s A1 side in the SA Amateur Football League.
The club’s football director, Steve Jacquier, told The Advertiser he had known Mr Williams for 35 years, having played league football together for Woodville.
Mr Jacquier said his mate, an all-Australian Teal Cup wingman in 1979, had left a huge hole at the club.
“He was just an intense, beautiful and passionate man and he coached the same way,” he said.
“He was loved by everybody ... you just don’t think it’s real, you can’t fathom it.”
Mr Jacquier said Mr Williams’ family — his wife Meredith, son Sam and daughter Erin — were inconsolable after the tragedy.
Mr Jacquier said Sam played A-grade football for PHOS Camden and had told him he wanted to play this weekend in his father’s honour.
He said the club would pay its respects to Mr Williams with a guard of honour and black armbands during their A-grade game against Gepps Cross on Saturday.
“We need to try to get up and be buoyant out of respect for both Garry and Sam,” he said.
Close friend Chris Morgan, who has known Mr Williams since the age of eight, said he was a “great guy”.
“He provided great entertainment to us all over the years,” Mr Morgan said. “He was a fantastic family man and one of the nice guys of life.”
The Barossa District Football and Netball Club is also mourning the loss of Mr Duggan, who was coach of the under-11 junior team.
Club president Simon Taylor said Mr Duggan was a well-loved club stalwart who was also heavily involved in the local tennis club.
“He’s just one of those classic country community people that every club would want,” he said,
“He loved working with the kids and the kids loved him, he was doing such a fantastic job, he’s just going to be irreplaceable.”
The club last night allowed junior players to have a kick with the A-grade after a meeting attended by about 70 parents.
Mr Taylor said players would wear black armbands during Saturday’s matches and a counsellor would attend training next Tuesday to offer support.
He said Mr Duggan’s family had been rallying around Mrs Duggan, their two sons and young daughter, and the close-knit community would do the same.
“He’s just been a tremendous part of the community and we will do what we can to support Naomi and the kids,” he said.
The Duggans’ three children attend local schools Faith Lutheran College in Tanunda and St Jakobi Lutheran School at Lyndoch.
A grieving Mrs Duggan said it was “too soon” to speak as the family needed time to themselves.
“We are still coming to grips with it,” she said.
Lyndoch Lutheran Church Pastor Paul Hannola said he was supporting the Duggan family.
“Obviously it’s a tight-knit community and he was an integral part of the community here.”
FOG AND CLOUD AS A FLIGHT TURNS FATAL
Jordanna Schriever
AN ultralight plane that crashed into a Barossa Valley paddock, killing two men yesterday morning, may have encountered problems in poor weather.
The two-seater Tecnam P96 Golf crashed between Rockford Wines and Villa Tinto Winery, just after 8am.
Pilot Anthony Duggan, 44, and his passenger, Garry Williams, 52, of Glenelg East, died at the scene.
Authorities said witnesses described seeing the ultralight plane in trouble as it flew through fog and low cloud.
Part of the plane’s wing was located in another paddock about 1km east of where the fuselage was found.
The plane, which had taken off from Barossa Valley Helicopters at Lyndoch on a flight to Mildura, burst into flames when it crashed before being extinguished by winery staff.
Recreational Aviation Australia president Michael Monck — whose organisation is investigating the incident — said it was unknown what caused the crash, but poor visibility would be considered.
“Witness reports stated there was a bit of fog and low cloud, which we will look at as a contributing factor,” he said.
Mr Monck said any findings and recommendations from the investigation would be dealt with internally.
“We will look at those findings and draw some preliminary conclusions and see if there is anything we can do to prevent a similar accident from happening again,” he said.
SA Police Chief Inspector Alex Zimmermann said a witness from one of the two adjacent wineries had seen the crash.
“The aircraft came down between two wineries and fortunately it didn’t crash in to either of those buildings and there were workers at one of the wineries who called us and they were first on scene,” he said.
“We’ve got a very comprehensive statement from that person about what he saw the aircraft was doing at the time.
“Certainly there is no suggestion they were doing aerobatics. What I can say is that it appears they were having some difficulty just prior to the crash.”
Insp Zimmermann said the aircraft had been hired by the men, but did not know the purpose of the flight.
He said he was not aware of any mayday calls made from the plane.
Local pilot David Lindner visited the crash site after being contacted about the plane crash.
He said he had flown the plane about six weeks earlier without incident and said it was owned by a local syndicate which kept it housed in the Lyndoch area.
“I loved flying it,” he said.
Mr Lindner said yesterday’s poor conditions would have likely contributed to the crash.
“I think it’s the result of flying in conditions that really weren’t suitable for flying.”
He said it was possible the pilot had become disoriented in yesterday morning’s low cloudy weather, putting the aircraft under stress and causing it to break up.
“There wasn’t a lot of wind to my knowledge but there was very low cloud,” he said.
A staff member from Rockford Wines said she and other employees had arrived at work shortly after the crash.
Kabminye Wines cellar door operator Ingrid Glastonbury described the wreckage as “very mangled”.
Source: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au
A BAROSSA Valley father-of-three was one of two people killed in a plane crash at Krondorf this morning.
Pilot Anthony Duggan, 44, of Cockatoo Valley, and his Glenelg East passenger, 52, died when their two-seater Tecnam P96 Golf ultralight plane crashed into a paddock between Rockford Wines and Villa Tinto Winery, just after 8am.
Part of the plane’s wing was located in another paddock about 1km to the east of where the fuselage was found.
The plane, which had taken off from Lyndoch on a flight to Mildura, burst into flames before it was extinguished by winery staff.
Mr Duggan and his wife Naomi had three children who attended local schools Faith Lutheran College in Tanunda and St Jakobi Lutheran School at Lyndoch.
Mrs Duggan said it was “too soon” to speak as the family needed time to grieve.
“We are still coming to grips with it,” she said.
Lyndoch Lutheran Church Pastor Paul Hannola said he was supporting the Duggan family.
“Obviously it’s a tight-knit community and he was an integral part of the community here,” he said.
Mr Duggan was a prominent member of the community with a passion for aviation, four-wheel driving and camping.
He was a junior football coach and a director and project manager at engineering consultancy business, Project Management Precision.
Mr Duggan established the management contracting and consultancy business in 2011, working with glass bottle manufacturer Amcor and Adelaide Brighton Cement.
Mr Duggan was an accomplished engineer, completing a bachelor and masters degree at Adelaide and Michigan universities.
He worked as a senior engineer, co-ordinator, assistant manager and manufacturing integration manager across several departments at General Motors Holden between 1995 and 2010.
His distinguished work at GM Holden was recognised with the GM Chairman’s “Best of the Best” Honours Award and GM Asia Pacific President’s Honours Award in 2008 for his work on the Pontiac G8 program.
Recreational Aviation Australia president Michael Monck — whose organisation is investigating the incident — said it was unknown what caused the fatal crash, but poor visibility would be considered.
“Witness reports stated there was a bit of fog and low cloud, which we will look at as a contributing factor,” he said.
Mr Monck said any findings and recommendations from the investigation would be dealt with internally.
“We will look at those findings and draw some preliminary conclusions and see if there is anything we can do to prevent a similar accident from happening again,” he said.
He said the tight-knit aviation community would be reeling from the tragedy.
“All accidents and deaths are horrific and our thoughts are with the families,” he said.
SA Police Chief Inspector Alex Zimmermann said a witness from one of the two adjacent wineries had seen the crash.
“The aircraft came down between two wineries and fortunately it didn’t crash in to either of those buildings and there were workers at one of the wineries that called us and they were first on scene,” he said.
“We’ve got a very comprehensive statement from that person about what he saw the aircraft was doing at the time.
“Certainly there’s no suggestion they were doing aerobatics. What I can say is that it appears they were having some difficulty just prior to the crash.”
Insp Zimmerman said police knew the identity of one of the men but had not yet managed to contact both families.
He said the aircraft had been hired by the men, but he was not sure for what purpose.
Insp Zimmerman said the deaths would be devastating for people in the region.
“As you’d know there is a traditional Barossa air show and there are a lot of pilots and people very interested in aviation in the area,” he said.
“The community will take it very hard.”
He was not aware of any mayday calls of where the plane had taken off from.
He said Recreation and Aviation Australia were travelling to the scene to investigate the crash.
An Australian Transport Safety Bureau spokeswoman said it would not be investigating the fatal crash because the plane was not registered with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
A Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokesman the ultralight plane was categorised under sports aviation, whose peak body was Recreation Aviation Australia.
Local pilot David Lindner visited the crash site after being contacted about the plane crash.
He said he had previously flown the plane about six weeks earlier without incident and said it was owned by a local syndicate which kept it housed in the Lyndoch area.
“I loved flying it,” he said.
He said this morning’s poor conditions would have likely contributed to the crash.
“I think it’s the result of flying in conditions that really weren’t suitable for flying.”
Mr Lindner said it was possible the pilot had become disorientated in this morning’s low cloudy weather, putting the aircraft under stress, causing it to break up.
“There wasn’t a lot of wind to my knowledge but there was very low cloud.
“I’m in shock at the moment, it’s really shaken me up.
“It might be people I know yet and that’s what worries me.”
A staff member from Rockford Wines said she and other employees had arrived to work shortly after the crash occurred.
“I’ve just rocked up to work and found out, it happened next door to Rockford,” she said.
“It’s all pretty fresh and we are all pretty shaken.”
Kabminye Wines cellar door operator Ingrid Glastonbury described the wreckage as “very mangled”.
“All I know is that two people have passed away and I’m finding it very upsetting,” she said.
“I’m standing in front of it and it’s either a small plane or a plane that is a little bit bigger than that. It is very mangled — it has been reduced to a very small (wreckage).”
Mrs Glastonbury said she did not know if the occupants of the plane were local.
Road closures are in place at the intersection of Krondorf Rd and Barossa Valley Highway.
Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au
http://www.flyingonline.biz
Two men have died in an ultralight plane crash this morning at Krondorf in the Barossa Valley.
Just after 8am, police and emergency services were called to a property on Krondorf Road after reports that a light plane had crashed in a paddock between two wineries.
Chief Inspector Alex Zimmermann, the officer in charge of the Barossa Local Service Area, said that when patrols arrived at the scene they found two men deceased in the wreckage of the two-seater aircraft.
He said he would not speculate on the cause of the crash, or the flight details, with Recreation Aviation Australia officials on their way to the scene to investigate.
"There was an eye witness to the aircraft crashing and that information will be passed on to the investigators," he said.
Wreckage located about 1km east of the crash scene will also be examined as part of the inquiry.
Road closures are in place at the intersection of Krondorf Road and Barossa Valley Highway.
Police will prepare a report for the Coroner.
Source: http://sapolicenews.com.au
Story and photos: http://www.abc.net.au
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