Sydney seaplane was half a mile off course before fatal crash

Experienced pilot made ‘inexplicable’ turn and then nosedived, killing five British passengers

ATSB officer Nat Nagy (L) discusses Sydney seaplane accident
Australian Transport Safety Bureau boss Nat Nagy (left) answers press questions about the crash
(Image credit: Photo credit: PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images)

A seaplane pilot who crashed near Sydney on New Year’s Eve was more than half a mile off the authorised route when the plane turned sharply right and nosedived into a river, killing him and his five British passengers.

Canadian-born Gareth Morgan was flying the group - Richard Cousins, chief executive of British catering giant Compass Group, his two sons, his fiance Emma Bowden and her daughter - back to the city from a waterside restaurant when the DHC-2 Beaver aircraft went down.

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