Businessman Gerard Beiboer has been identified as the pilot involved in the plane crash at Bishops Bridge.
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The managing director of Kooragang business RIG Installations Newcastle had a passion for aviation.
He was also close friends with Paul Bennet and the team at Paul Bennet Airshows. He was also a member of the Royal Newcastle Aero Club.
"Gerard was a great club member," Royal Newcastle Aero Club chief flying instructor Phil Unicomb said.
We will miss his smiling face
- Phil Unicomb from the Royal Newcastle Aero Club
"He was a happy fellow around the place and was always there when we needed help. He helped setting up the Air Show and with working bees.
"I flew with him in some of his early flight training.
"I know his wife and daughters are devastated. All of his kids were close to him and he was a very good dad.
"We will miss his smiling face."
Previous story:
A man has died in a plane crash at Bishops Bridge.
Emergency services were called to an Old Maitland Road property about 4.30pm on Wednesday after multiple reports of a plane crash on a nearby property.
Police and paramedics found the plane on fire about 5.15pm.
The pilot, the only occupant of the biplane, was found dead at the scene.
The pilot’s identity has not been released.
A Bishops Bridge resident told the Mercury that she could see black smoke coming from a nearby property at the time of the crash.
Another resident, who asked not to be named, told the Mercury that he was out feeding his daughter’s horses when he saw the plane tumbling end over end.
“I said to my wife ‘he’s not going to be able to pull out of this’,” he said.
“He fell below the tree line and we didn’t see him pull back up.”
Air Crash Investigators were called to the scene.
The plane crashed on a remote part of the Hunter property and emergency services had to use four-wheel-drives and trail bikes to find the wreck.
A Westpac Rescue Helicopter was called to the scene from Wollongong because the Newcastle chopper was unavailable.
The plane is not believed to have begun its journey from Maitland Aerodrome or Luskintyre Airfield.
The incident comes less than two months after a fatal plane crash at the edge of Lovedale Road, near a popular cafe.
Witnesses in that instance said they did not hear the plane descend before it crashed.
