>>
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.
