David Stephens: Plane wreckage found in Snowy Mountains, but NSW police say crash ‘not survivable’

A recovery operation is underway for a pilot believed to have been killed in a plane crash after the discovery of wreckage.

The aircraft was on a private flight from Wangaratta in Victoria to Moruya on the NSW South Coast on Tuesday, and was reported missing when it did not arrive.

A Beechworth Debonair light plane flown by 74-year-old Bega man David Stephens,mwas last recorded on GPS near Dargals Trail in the Kosciuszko National Park.

Poor weather hampered the search for the plane but the inter-agency operation eventually found the wreckage about 4pm on Thursday, 10km east of Khancoban in the Snowy Mountains.

“You wouldn’t recognise it as an aeroplane,” NSW Police Superintendent Andrew Spliet said of the wreckage on Friday.

“It’s a significant impact, a fair bit of speed into the mountain range which has completely destroyed that aircraft.

“It wouldn’t be survivable,” he told reporters.

Police have not yet been able to recover a body or formally identify the pilot due to the steep terrain, heavy snow and inclement weather in the area.

The search and subsequent recovery operation has involved helicopters from both NSW and Victoria along with SES, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Snowy Hydro and alpine specialist staff.

The impact of Tuesday’s poor weather and whether flight warnings were in place will form part of the investigation into the crash, Supt Spliet said.

Australia’s aviation safety watchdog announced they had begun an investigation into the crash and would provide a preliminary report in about two months.

Tracking data, weather information and maintenance records will all form part of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s probe.

“Should a critical safety issue be identified during the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify relevant parties so safety action can be taken,” the bureau said in a statement.