CANBERRA, Australia — The owner of a seaplane that crashed near Sydney during a New Year’s Eve joy flight, killing the pilot and his five British passengers, said Wednesday that flight path was not authorized and the pilot’s final manoeuvr was inexplicable. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau on Wednesday released a preliminary report on its investigation into the cause of the crash into the Hawkesbury River. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff as it was climbing for a flight south to Sydney following a restaurant lunch. The plane that crashed on Dec. 31 was not equipped with such a device, which are not compulsory in Australia. The plane was also not required to carry cockpit voice or flight data recorders, widely known as black boxes.

Source: National Post January 31, 2018 01:52 UTC