The body of a man has been located in wreckage in the Snowy Mountains on Friday, after a multi-day police search for a plane that went missing earlier this week. Police believe the body is that of the pilot, 74-year-old David Stephens from Bega, New South Wales.
Stephens was flying from Wangaratta in Victoria to Moruya in NSW when his single-engine 1966 Beechcraft Debonair vanished on Tuesday afternoon. The downed plane was spotted near Dargals Trail east of Khancoban on Thursday afternoon.
NSW Police Superintendent Andrew Spliet said the aircraft had been completely destroyed and would not be recognised as an aeroplane. 'There's quite a bit of wreckage from the impact. It's fairly clear that it wouldn't be survivable,' he told reporters.
The terrain where the plane was found was 'very steep' and surrounded by 'a lot of snow', Spliet said. A recovery operation involving PolAir, Police Rescue, and the criminal investigation and crime scene unit began at midday to retrieve and examine the plane.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has started an investigation into the crash. A report will be prepared for the coroner.
