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Police find body believed to be Gympie pilot

ABC

ABC

Police believe a body found in bushland north-west of Gympie is that of missing pilot Rob Pavan.

On Monday, wreckage of the light plane belonging to Mr Pavan was located near the town of Woolooga, about 39km north-west of Gympie.

NSW Police said on Tuesday afternoon a 60-year-old man’s body has been recovered from bushland.

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Police were advised that the single engine plane failed to reach its destination at Balantree Station on April 18, 2014 at about 9.20pm.

They had conducted a several-day search around the Woolooga area with the assistance of other agencies.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said on Monday that a farmer found Mr Pavan’s crashed Jabiru.

Authorities then confirmed the wreckage, strewn across the mountain over several hundred metres, was Mr Pavan’s plane.

Wreckage of Mr Pavan’s Jabiru in bushy terrain on a property north-west of Woolooga.

Wreckage of Mr Pavan’s Jabiru in bushy terrain on a property north-west of Woolooga. Photo: ABC

AMSA media coordinator Andrea Hayward-Maher said Mr Pavan did not issue a mayday call before the crash and his personal locator beacon was not activated, which made the search difficult.

“He hasn’t made it too far, unfortunately, before this crash occurred,” she said.

“He hasn’t survived the high-impact crash. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the pilot.

“This has been a really tough few days for them.”

The solo pilot, an experienced aviator, had just completed a trip around Australia.

He took off from Gympie on Saturday morning en route to a small airstrip about 90 kilometres west of Gladstone, in central Queensland.

AMSA was alerted when Mr Pavan failed to arrive and a search began about 4:15pm on Saturday.

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