> http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23872272-5005961,00.html
>
> A SURVIVOR of a plane crash in which five people died has told of praying
> during the last frantic moments of the doomed skydiving flight west of
> Brisbane two years ago.
>
> The high-wing Cessna 206 clipped a tree and plummeted into a dam at
> Ebenezer, near Willowbank, shortly after takeoff on January 2, 2006.
>
> Pilot Anthony Winter, 22, from Brisbane, Irish skydiving instructor Nigel
> O'Gorman, 34, British instructor Colin Hicklin, 41, Briton Susanne
> Williams, 49, and Barbara McLelland, 40, of the Gold Coast, were killed.
>
> Brisbane Skydiving Centre owner Brian Scoffell and Gold Coast woman Mandy
> Best survived.
>
> An inquest began in Brisbane today into the causes of the crash and
> whether regulations need to be changed to improve the safety of skydivers.
>
> Survivor Ms Best told the court her group had been rushed through paper
> work, not been taken through emergency procedures, been refused helmets
> and had not been strapped via floor restraints - used by parachutists
> instead of seatbelts - before the flight.
>
> Ms Best said she had been nervous on take-off and when she heard the
> engine "putt-putting" and an emergency warning sound, she knew the plane
> was in trouble.
>
> She said said heard Mr Scoffell telling the pilot "don't stall it, keep it
> up, give it some throttle".
>
> "The plane was struggling, we were losing altitude ... my girlfriend and I
> began to pray," she said.
>
> Ms Best cried as she recalled the plane hitting the tree, flipping and
> crashing into the dam.
>
> "I remember hearing the sound of bones breaking," she said.
>
> "I remember thinking this is going to hurt and then we hit the water."
>
> Ms Best, who received a broken neck in the accident, said she had thought
> she had died and was moving "towards the light" when she broke the water's
> surface and realised the light was the sun.
>
> The inquiry was told witnesses had reported hearing the plane running
> "funny" before take-off and saw black and blue smoke coming from it as it
> idled on the runway.
>
> Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigator Sam Webb today
> showed the court a water-damaged video recovered from the crash site.
>
> The video showed Ms McLelland celebrating her 40th birthday before
> embarking on the flight while abnormal engine noises could be heard in the
> background.
>
> He said the engine had suffered a partial power loss but investigators had
> failed to find its cause.
>
> The inquiry continues tomorrow.