Background
The aircraft involved in the accident was a Beechcraft 200 Super King Air, registration VH-SKC, serial number BB-47, manufactured in 1975. The aircraft had been in service for a total for 18,771 hours before the accident. The amount of air passed into the cabin is controlled by bleed air valves on the engines. The positions of the bleed air valves can be altered by the pilot. According to the accident report, "The aircraft was not fitted with a high cabin altitude aural warning device, nor was it required to be." The aircraft was fitted with an emergency oxygen system—an oxygen tank which could supply oxygen to the crew through two masks located in the cockpit and to passengers through masks which drop from the ceiling of the cabin.
Accident investigators concluded the aircraft was airworthy at the time the accident occurred, and a pilot who flew the aircraft earlier in the day said the aircraft functioned normally. "The maintenance release was current and an examination of the aircraft’s maintenance records found no recurring maintenance problems that may have been factors in the accident," the accident report stated.
Read more about this topic: 2000 Australia Beechcraft King Air Crash
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