THE Murraylands experienced two tragedies on the weekend leaving one man dead following a vehicle crash on Swanport Bridge Friday night and another man died after his plane crashed at Pallamana. The disastrous weekend began at 10.30pm Friday when a B-double truck crashed head-on with a car near the western end of Swanport Bridge killing the 32-year-old driver of the car from Netherby and sending the truck down the embankment. Murray Mallee acting superintendent Wayne Overmeyer said the Toyota Corolla was travelling east then changed direction into the path of the B-double which was travelling west. “As a result the B-double veered off the side of the Bridge coming to rest on the mud flats 20 metres below the bridge,” he said.

“The truck driver was taken to hospital with minor injuries.”

The section of the South Eastern Freeway between the White Hill exit and the Swanport Bridge exit was closed until late Saturday afternoon while a crane was brought in to help retrieve the truck.

On Sunday morning, Murray Bridge man Rob Morgan, 33, was killed instantly when the bi-plane he was flying crashed in a paddock adjacent to the Pallamana Aerodrome.

Police and emergency service crews were called to the scene following the accident which happened while the aerobatic amateur pilot practised stunts for an upcoming competition in a yellow and black Pitts Special aerobatic aircraft. Murray Bridge Light Aircraft Flying School chief flying instructor Mike Chapman, who was at the airfield when the accident happened, said he was disappointed with some media reports that drew a link between the weekend’s accident and Mr Morgan’s level of experience.

“To draw a link between the accident and his experience was wrong,” he said.

“He was an experienced pilot with a low level rating - meaning he was very experienced to do low level aerobatics.

“(Australian aerobatic champion pilot) Chris Sperou is the only other pilot with that level of experience.”