In North Queensland, a light plane crash claimed the lives of a young couple who were expecting a child.
Bush pilot Rhiley Kuhrt and his wife Maree, who was 27 weeks pregnant with a girl, are mourned by their family and friends.
A Piper Cherokee aircraft carrying the couple took off from a livestock station yesterday afternoon before colliding with terrain west of Proserpine.
It has been established that Kuhrt is the son of a police officer. and the paid were six months into their marriage.
After the couple failed to show up at Lakeside Airpark, the flight was reported missing more than 15 hours after the wreckage was discovered by a rescue helicopter.
The crash site has been located, according to Queensland Police Inspector Andrew Godbold, who added that recovering the bodies could take up to three days.
Helicopter entry is currently the only option, he said.
“The terrain is really rough.”
He stated that it was thought the two were their route to see family when the jet encountered problems during a storm.
Godbold remarked, “There’s a lot of trees there on that mountain, a really steep place.”
They would have had to deal with several showers, loud thunder, and possibly zero visibility.
According to him, Kuhrt’s plane appeared to have made a U-turn back toward the mountains.
A massive search and rescue operation was launched when the jet vanished, and it was renewed this morning at first light.
A Townsville-based QGAir Rescue helicopter found the accident site around 10.15 am.
Yesterday around 2:00 pm, the aircraft took off from Natal Downs Station, a remote farm close to Charters Towers.
The incident, according to Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson, has devastated him.
He stated, “The loss of life in aviation is truly heartbreaking.
“To have a general aviation accident in our area is disturbing because they are quite rare.”
Inquiries into what occurred are currently in progress.
