Add Category
In short:
Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators have travelled to Broome after a remote helicopter crash at Mount Anderson Station.
Peter Ritter and a second pilot were killed after the helicopters they were piloting collided shortly after take-off.
What's next?
The bureau says a preliminary report into the crash will be released within six weeks.
Investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) will arrive in the Kimberley to examine the scene of a helicopter crash which killed two men at a remote cattle station.
Peter Ritter and another pilot were in two cattle mustering helicopters when they collided shortly after take-off at Mount Anderson Station, near Camballin, about 6.20am Thursday.
The second man's family has asked that the ABC not publish his name or photo.
Mount Anderson is an Indigenous-owned cattle station run by the Kimberley Agriculture and Pastoral Company, about 120 kilometres south of Derby.
ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said three investigators were flying into Broome on Friday before travelling to the remote crash site on Saturday for on-site examinations.
"We're already starting to gather a lot of the information that we will need to conduct this investigation," he said.
"That goes from maintenance records, qualifications and hours of pilots [and] the operation itself."
Mr Mitchell said the investigators would first talk with police on the scene as well as look at the wreckage and crash site.
Mr Mitchell said investigators would use drones to examine the scene from the air.
He said they would try to ascertain the altitude of the helicopters before the crash and also speak to witnesses.
"That allows us to look at not only the overall environment that are operating in, but we are able to also, as best we can, recreate the flight paths from the drone of those two helicopters," he said.
"We try and take a lot of measurements, not only of the actual site itself but around what visibility may have been at the time of the day."
Investigators were expected to remain at the site over the coming days.
Report due within weeks
A preliminary report into the crash could be released as soon as four weeks.
"Depending on how detailed or I guess how broad the investigation ends up being, the rest of the report can be out in sort of eight to 10 months," Mr Mitchell said.
He said the crash was the third deployment of the ATSB for fatal mustering incidents in Australia this year.
Kimberley Police Superintendent Steve Thompson told the ABC on Thursday that two other mustering pilots were first on the scene.
"My understanding is there was four mustering helicopters," he said.
"Obviously two were involved in this incident tragically, and then there was two others nearby."
Get our local newsletter, delivered free each Tuesday