Air crash investigation finds de Havilland pilot Des Porter was lost Crash scene gave passengers no hope Police describe the scene where a vintage plane crashed, claiming six lives on the Sunshine Coast, saying the passengers were "thrown forward of the plane crash" among "very thick forest." PT1M27S http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-270tq 620 349 October 4, 2012 A plane crash that killed six people most likely occurred because the pilot became disoriented and lost control, an investigation has found. It took authorities two days to find the wreckage of the vintage plane, which smashed into dense woodlands near the western end of the Upper Kandanga valley about 100 kilometres north of Brisbane on October 1, 2012. The six people on board the 1934-model de Havilland DH-84 Dragon were killed. They were pilot-owner Des Porter, 68 and his wife Kath, 61; Manly West couple Les D'Evlin, 75, and wife Janice, 61; and John and Carol Dawson, both 63. The group were on a private flight from Monto to Caboolture, and took off at 11.07am. About two hours into the flight, Mr Porter radioed air traffic control to say the plane was flying through cloud, according to a report released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. Rescue crews arrive at the wreckage of a vintage plane missing since Monday. Photo: Channel Nine For the next 50 minutes, he received instructions over the radio but was unable to fly clear of the clouds. "Radio contact was intermittent and no transmissions from the aircraft were received after 1405," the report said. ASTB investigators believe the crash occurred between 2.13pm and 2.23pm. "After maintaining control in such conditions for about an hour, and being unable to navigate away from the mountain range, the pilot most likely became spatially disoriented and lost control of the aircraft before it impacted the ground," the report said. The bureau said the plane was not visible on radar for most of the flight, making it difficult for air traffic control to guide the pilot away from the cloud and high terrain. A search and rescue helicopter was also dispatched to try to locate the plane just before 2pm. Minutes before the crash, Mr Porter told air traffic controllers that he felt he was "going round in circles," the report said. Investigators said the accident highlighted ""the importance of pre- and in-flight planning and decision-making in limiting exposure to risk"." The investigation found the plane was most likely above its maximum take-off weight, however there was no evidence to suggest that this impacted on the structural integrity of the aircraft. The workload of the air traffic controller was also found to be "elevated" on the day the accident occurred. After the accident, Airservices Australia and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority agreed to conduct a review into how they manage in-flight emergencies, after confusion over who was leading the initial search. It is scheduled to be completed before March 2014.