Decades-old light planes using piston engines instead of the safer, more reliable modern turbines are still being used by Australian healthcare facilities despite deadly crash, according to an article on the Sydney Morning Herald.
A pilot and his nurse passenger died in 2010 when the patient transport plane he was flying developed engine problems leading him to shut down one engine and attempt to land on a road.
The fully-fuelled 26-year-old aircraft slammed into a power pole and exploded during the landing attempt.
A spokesman for Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority said there was no reason why piston-engine aircraft could not be used for patient transport work if they were "maintained and operated to the applicable safety standards."
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