ATSB to probe fatal kit plane crashes
special federal investigation into two fatal crashes involving kit planes
could result in tighter regulations for self-built aircraft, authorities
say.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), which normally confines its
investigations to passenger aircraft, will look into the crashes of the two
kit planes, which happened just six days apart.

Ron Bertram, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
(AOPA), was killed on Wednesday as he tested a Lancair 360 kit plane at
Sydney's Bankstown Airport.

And last Friday, the male pilot of a Lancair 320 kit plane died when it
ploughed into trees and landed in waist-deep water in a gully in suburban
Brisbane.