Five members of an Aboriginal land council and their pilot died when their aircraft went missing in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The search by seven fixed-wing aircraft and two helicopters, as well as six fishing trawlers was concentrated on a 2300 square nautical mile triangle of Gulf waters.

A spokesman for Australian Search and Rescue said the search was hampered by poor weather, with strong winds, low cloud and squally rains reducing visibility to 500 m.  An investigation in 2001 by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found that the pilot’s inexperience in severe weather conditions may have contributed to the crash.