A rural airport owner has been fined $250,000 over the deaths of two skydivers who fell 100 metres after getting snagged on a plane in a horrifying mid-air accident.
Experienced instructor Stephen Hoare, 37, and his tandem passenger Alex Welling, 32, died while skydiving at Goulburn airport, in southern NSW, on June 27, 2021.
Their equipment became tangled on a makeshift metal step of the Cessna 182 when they tried to launch during the Sunday afternoon jump.
Goulburn Flight Training Centre and its sole director, Attilio Giovanni Ferrara, also known as John Ferrara, were found guilty of serious workplace safety breaches in the NSW District Court in March.
Judge Andrew Scotting on Friday fined Ferrara $150,000 for two charges and his company $100,000, totalling $250,000.
Ferrara and the company were also ordered to pay 90 per cent of the prosecution's costs.
A lengthy trial was told the fabricated metal step had been recently installed on the plane to help skydivers launch, but had not been inspected or approved by an engineer.
Judge Scotting said Ferrara was aware the plane could not be legally flown without an engineering order, but failed to ensure the Cessna was not operated.
"The reasonable steps that Mr Ferrara should have taken to exercise due diligence were known to him, convenient and inexpensive," Judge Scotting said.
"The deaths of Mr Hoare and Mr Welling aggravate the seriousness of the offences."
The company also failed to ensure "buddy checks" were carried out before every flight, a measure that could have identified a loose strap on Mr Welling's harness.
The fines were well below maximum penalties of $1.7 million for each charge faced by the company and more than $350,000 for each of Ferrara's offences.
The judge found Ferrara had limited capacity to pay a fine, as both his flight school and skydiving business have shuttered.
During the trial, a short GoPro video taken by a third solo skydiver during the flight showed Mr Welling grinning and in high spirits as he moved towards the open door of the plane attached to Mr Hoare.
It showed a black strap getting caught on the protruding step when they launched, violently flinging the pair upside-down.
The pilot attempted several manoeuvres to free the men, including flying low over the airport while staff on the ground stood on top of a four-wheel drive to try and grab them.
Mr Hoare and Mr Welling fell when the plane returned to a higher altitude.
Ferrara issued a "sincere and unqualified" apology at an earlier court hearing.
Mr Hoare's father Frank said he had no animosity towards Ferrara or the pilot, who also installed the step.
"In the end, there was no intent," Mr Hoare said.
The family has called for a coronial inquiry to help prevent similar accidents.
