A Queensland skydiving company which operated a plane that crashed, killing five people, was warned about the dangers of a faulty pilot seat, an inquest has heard.
Experienced pilot Andrew Aitken died when his Cessna 206 crashed and burst into flames after rolling left about 200 feet in the air from the Caboolture Airfield, north of Brisbane, in March 2014.
Skydiving first-timer Joey King, his fiancee Rahula Hohua and Adrenalin Skydive instructors Glenn Norman and Juraj Glesk were also killed.
Unwanted movement by the pilot seat may have caused the crash, which occurred during clear weather, an inquest has heard.
Mechanisms to prevent Mr Aitken's seat suddenly sliding backwards on its rails away from the controls were missing, according to crash investigators.
Independent pilot Ronald George Creed, who owned an airstrip the skydiving company rented, said he noticed a week before the fatal accident the plane did not have seat-stop mechanisms.
"I told them about the seat stops," he said in evidence on Tuesday.
"I've always got my stops in because I know how critical it is."
Mr Creed also noticed the pilot's seat was off its rails before fixing it, warning it presented a significant safety risk.
But the Adrenalin pilot "didn't treat it very seriously", he claimed.
"(I said) this has to be on the rails. It was obvious he didn't understand," Mr Creed said.
When flying himself, Mr Creed said he would check for unwanted seat movement before take-off by performing a check known as the "Cessna wiggle".
Mr Creed said he met Adrenalin owner-operator Paul Turner about 2012 after the company had an accident in Gladstone, reluctantly agreeing to let him rent an airstrip after hearing Gladstone airport "wanted to kick him out".
"I've never been a fan of skydivers because I don't believe they are all that professional. He's one of the typical skydivers," Mr Creed said.
"I didn't think it was all that flash-looking."
But Mr Creed said he believed Adrenalin ran a safe flying operation apart from the pilot seat issue.
Kritik Kamlesh Prasad, who was in a skydiving group on the plane hours before the crash, told the inquest the cabin "looked rough".
The inquest continues.
Australian Associated Press
