Friends of a pilot killed in a rural plane crash have remembered him as a “respected aircraft builder” who had a passion for flying. Malcolm Vivian’s amateur-built replica Spitfire came down in rural Malabaine, near Northam about 100km northeast of Perth in WA’s Wheatbelt, just before 11am on Wednesday. Vivian, 76, was dead when emergency services arrived, just off the Great Eastern Hwy.
Friend pays tribute to 'beautiful man'
“My last conversation with him the night before is that he told me that he gets bored just walking around the house watching TV … so he would travel up to Northam (from Perth) nearly every week or fortnight,” friend Kim Lawrence told the ABC of the “very well-liked pilot”. “He would spend two or three days at a time here working on his aircraft. Malcolm was a special builder, he wasn’t just your ordinary aircraft builder.”
According to Lawrence, the Spitfire was the second aircraft Vivian had built and it had been “running beautiful” during recent touch-and-go exercises. He does not believe pilot error was to blame for the tragedy that claimed his friend’s life. “He’s just a beautiful man,” an upset Lawrence said. “I still can’t believe it.”
Witnesses describe devastation
Local farmer Dale West said the crash was devastating. “It’s not nice to see — a loss of life and an old bloke who obviously loved his planes,” West told 7NEWS. The owner of the farm was in Perth at the time of the crash but workers at a neighbouring property saw the emergency play out. “Our driver called the police straight away and said, ‘I think a plane’s gone down’,” witness Alistair Smith said.
Facebook page Whitsunday Spitfire shared “sad news” of the tragedy on Wednesday. “Our friend had a fatal crash in his MK26B Spitfire near Northam today conducting flight testing after he built it,” the page said. Others said Vivian will be “missed”. “What a loss of a great man with a love of aviation,” they said.
ATSB launches investigation
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is sending a team from Canberra to investigate the private flight crash. “They will arrive on site on Thursday, and over coming days will conduct a range of evidence-gathering activities, including site and wreckage examination, and recovery of any aircraft components of interest for further examination at the ATSB’s technical facilities in Canberra,” the bureau said.
Investigators will interview witnesses and have asked for anyone who captured footage of the crash or the aftermath to contact them. Preliminary details are expected to be published within two months and a final report detailing findings and analysis will be released when the probe is finished. A report will also be prepared for the coroner.
