A MAN who suffered fatal head injuries in a Christmas Eve plane crash in NSW probably would have died even if rescue crews had found him earlier, a coroner has heard.
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Matthew Green, 32, died after his brother-in-law Scott Kennedy-Green crashed his Cessna aircraft in Coolah Tops National Park in the Hunter Valley on the afternoon of December 24, 2008.
The pair, who were flying from Glenn Innes to Mudgee when bad weather struck, were not found until 10am the next day.
Mr Green was pronounced dead in hospital.
An inquest into Mr Green’s death on Tuesday heard his brother-in-law, who has since been convicted of recklessly operating the aircraft, repeatedly gave rescue teams the wrong co-ordinates as they searched for the wreckage on Christmas Eve.
Mr Green was cut from his seat and treated at the scene by Scott, who told police he thought his passenger died around two hours after the crash.
But counsel assisting the coroner Emma Sullivan said Mr Green likely would have died from a significant head injury even if medical care had been immediately available.
She said an autopsy found Mr Green suffered ‘‘a rapid death’’.
Ms Sullivan said Mr Kennedy-Green, who was only qualified to fly in clear conditions, failed to immediately turn back when he saw thunderstorms ahead.
He also did not give formal notification of his flight path to aviation authorities and didn’t have an emergency beacon in the aircraft.
Mr Kennedy-Green says the accident happened when he eventually decided to turn back and was enveloped in cloud.
Ms Sullivan submitted there’s not enough evidence to determine whether that was the truth.
But, she submitted that would not affect the coroner’s main findings of determining the identity of the deceased and the date, place, manner and cause of the deceased.
Deputy State Coroner Sharon Freund reserved her findings until next month.
AAP
