Farmer’s wife reveals he planned to sell crash plane

Trevor Badger, a Pingrup sheep and grain farmer and former long-time CBH board member, was found trapped in the wreckage and could not be saved.

A well-known Great Southern farmer and grains industry stalwart who died in a tragic plane crash on Saturday was taking his ultralight aircraft on one last joy flight before putting it up for sale.

Deborah Badger was the first on the scene when her husband Trevor Badger — a former CBH director — crashed his aircraft just after 2.30pm.

The 55-year-old was taking his single-seat ultralight Sapphire aircraft for one last flight after the couple spent the morning taking photographs of it, with plans to list it for sale on Gumtree this week.

Mrs Badger said she first thought her husband had landed safely and it was not until she arrived to find him in a paddock that she knew something catastrophic had happened.

She found him trapped in the wreckage of the plane in one of the main paddocks of their farm, just off Nyabing-Pingrup Road in Pingrup.

Investigators and police have been at the site since, trying to work out the cause of the crash.

Mrs Badger said it was “impossible to know” what had happened but she emphasised her husband was an extremely cautious flyer with more than 30 years experience.

From left, Trevor Badger at a Bibra Lake wool store with wool from his Pingrup farm, Trevor and Deborah on a trip to Japan, Trevor in the plane he planned to sell on Saturday morning, and Trevor Badger with his wife Deb Badger. Credit: Supplied/The West Australian

Investigators and police have been at the site since, trying to work out the cause of the crash.

Mrs Badger said it was “impossible to know” what had happened but she emphasised her husband was an extremely cautious flyer with more than 30 years experience.

A St John Ambulance volunteer, Mrs Badger called emergency services and gave her husband of 28 years what she hoped would be lifesaving CPR.

“I just saw him in a paddock,” she said. “I was the first one that found him, and I managed to get the attention of two passers-by and then I did CPR on him until other people arrived to help.

“He was an incredibly safe and cautious flyer. There is no way he would have done anything unsafe. He was doing what he loved — he loved flying. It was quick, I knew it was quick. It was instant.”

Trevor and Deborah Badger. Credit: Supplied

With her voice trembling, Mrs Badger said her husband had been “holding the family together” after his own father Norm died in December, and his cousin Clyde died last month.

“Trevor was probably the best friend anyone could have,” she said. “He never let his mates down, and his mates and his family meant the world to him.”

Mrs Badger said the couple’s son Riaan, 24, had rushed down to the farm from Perth today and their daughter Chelsea, 26, would fly home from New Zealand tomorrow.

The family had finished seeding their crops for the grain- growing season and had leased a portion of their property to reduce their workload.

Mr Badger crashed in one of the paddocks he had carefully seeded just a few weeks earlier.

WA’s farming community has been left reeling from the shock death of Mr Badger, who served on the board of Australia’s biggest co-operative CBH Group for 14 years.

By this morning, as news of his death spread across WA’s rural grapevine, an outpouring of grief, stories and memories raced across social media for the man who was best known for standing up for what he believed was best for the State’s $6 billion grains industry. The grain and sheep farmer’s death was today described as a “devastating loss” to the rural sector.

P1 Sunday Times 23 May 2021. Credit: Supplied

Shire of Kent president Scott Crosby — who farms at Nyabing — said Mr Badger’s death would have a lasting impact.

“This is a huge shock and everyone is extremely flat,” he said. “Trevor was a community-minded man who was always trying to do his best for the community and his fellow farmers.”

WAFarmers chief executive Trevor Whittington said there were “some characters you just couldn’t imagine not being around” — and his friend “Badge” was one of them.

He said his friend had an incredible laugh, intelligence, and a great ability to make and maintain professional networks and friendships.

“He had a fabulous laugh ... some people have an easy laugh, and he was certainly one of them,” Mr Whittington said. “He had the whole trifecta — he was an academic and a natural athlete, and he was a natural leader of people. He was the all-round Australian boy. In a shrinking community of farmers, it is a devastating loss to lose someone like him.”

Mr Badger and his wife have farmed for about three decades at their 6500ha Nanda Downs property. Their cropping program includes wheat, barley, oats and canola while they also run a 9000-head merino flock.

Before losing his seat on the CBH board a year ago, Mr Badger was one of the longest-serving directors of the grain-handling co-operative, having first been elected in 2007. He was forced off the board in controversial circumstances but maintained strong support among growers.

Mrs Badger said her husband regarded his time on the CBH board as “one of his biggest achievements”, but he had been more relaxed than ever during the past 12 months.

Mr Badger held other prior positions within WA’s agricultural industry including vice-president of the WA Farmers’ Grains Council and deputy chairman of the CBH Growers Advisory Committee. It’s understood the crash will be investigated by Recreational Aviation Australia.