Cause of in-flight fire unknown

BARRY Whebell may never know what caused the fire that sparked a mid-air emergency in the Jabiru aircraft he was teaching in on Monday.

The 65-year-old Coral Coast Academy of Aviation chief flight instructor said the smoke that filled the cockpit of his 77-year-old student's aircraft smelt like a shorted-out toaster.

“The main thing I could smell was an electrical fire,” Mr Whebell said.

He took control of the aircraft and landed just moments before it was engulfed by flames he said must have reached well over 900 degrees celsius to melt aluminium parts of the aeroplane.

Neither man was injured in the incident.

Mr Whebell said any aircraft could experience an electrical fault.

“It's extremely rare, I haven't heard of any Jabiru that's had an electrical short,” he said.

“In my own personal feeling it seemed like some electrical fuse malfunction in one of the systems.”

While Mr Whebell was back at work yesterday, his student was headed home to Gladstone with his wife.

“It hasn't fazed him much, he hasn't given up his passion for flying,” he said.

Recreational Aviation Australia (RAA) operations manager Mick Poole, who is investigating the incident, said he was waiting for the pilot's report.

“We may never know because the thing is completely burnt,” Mr Poole said.

“Finding the source of the fire is going to be too difficult.”

He said the RAA would be looking at the maintenance records of the aircraft.

The incident has raised questions about whether or not the airport should have its own fire service, but Bundaberg Regional Council chief executive officer Peter Byrne said the organisation was satisfied with Queensland Fire and Rescue Services' response times.

He said the size and number of passengers coming through Bundaberg meant the dedicated service was not required, and the planned expansion of the terminal and runway would not alter that.

“My understanding is they don't even have one at Hervey Bay,” he said.

Jabiru managing director Rod Stiff declined to comment on the incident.