The boss of a Queensland agricultural business has been killed alongside his son when a light plane crashed in remote bushland.
Tom Strachan and son Noah, 20, have been named by local media as two of the victims of the tragedy west of Brisbane.
The pilot of the Cessna also died at the scene. The Courier Mail identified him as Gary Liehm.
Tom Strachan, the executive director of Packhorse, owns a cattle station in Roma, in western Queensland.
His wealth is estimated by the BRW Young Rich List at $47 million.
“It’s champagne country that you can’t get enough,” Mr Strachan told The Australian Financial Review in 2015 after purchasing additional land to expand his farm.
The Packhorse company site states: “Tom’s energetic, innovative and entrepreneurial approach has delivered substantial success in businesses including workforce management, funds management in the environmental regeneration and facilities management”.
Tom Strachan and son Noah died in the plane crash. Photo: Packhorse/LinkedIn
“Over the last 10 years Tom has invested in and operated substantial Australian farming enterprises,” the company site reads.
“Several of these investments have dovetailed into some of Australia’s largest farming operations including substantial aspects of one of the world’s largest privately-owned vertically-integrated beef supply chains.”
Noah Strachan’s LinkedIn profile lists his profession as an analyst with Brisbane real estate company Benstead Holdaway.
Father and son were educated at Brisbane Grammar School.
In a profile on old boys, the school quoted Tom Strachan saying he was a “cowboy” dedicated to regenerative agriculture.
“We have ruined our soils, and we have a broken supply chain in the beef industry with an adversarial relationship between producer and processor,” he said.
“I’m trying to get the story out that we have a huge opportunity to feed the world with clean, grass fed beef, and we can do that by fixing our soils and sequestering carbon.”
Mr Liehm was chief executive of Executive Helicopters and had worked in emergency services and for SeaWorld, The Courier Mail wrote.
The Cessna was reported missing after failing to land as planned, police have confirmed.
It’s believed the men took off from the Strachan family’s property early Monday morning.
“The aircraft was located during an aerial search and all three occupants were pronounced deceased at the scene,’’ police said in a statement on Monday night.
The plane ran into bad weather before crashing, Nine News reported.
#BREAKING: Three people have killed in a plane crash, in a remote part of Fernvale – an hour west of Brisbane. @PeterFegan9 #9News
READ MORE: https://t.co/WS8onQO25l pic.twitter.com/0pAv4AORYy
— 9News Queensland (@9NewsQueensland) August 29, 2022
It was tracked leaving Roma, stopping at Dalby, before disappearing in the Somerset region.
Preliminary information indicated the aircraft departed Dalby at 10am and was due to land at Archerfield at 2pm.
Police had confirmed officers were at the scene in the Fernvale-Lowood area.
The police forensic crash unit will investigate the crash as will the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, whose safety inspectors are expected on site on Tuesday.
A report will be prepared for the Coroner.
-with wires
