A rural airport owner is set to learn his fate over the deaths of two skydivers who fell 100 metres after they were 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 the 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 both found guilty of serious workplace safety breaches in the NSW District Court in March.
Judge Andrew Scotting is due to hand down his sentence in Sydney on Friday.
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.
"The step presented an obvious and dangerous snag hazard," Judge Andrew Scotting said.
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.
A short GoPro video taken by a third solo skydiver during the flight showed Mr Welling smiling as he moved towards the open door of the plane attached to Mr Hoare.
The men were filmed sitting on the edge of the plane for a few seconds before they tried to launch.
The vision then showed a black strap getting caught on the protruding step, 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.
But he said the Hoare family's lives were shattered by the accident.
"He was not just a name or statistic; he was our son and our joy," he said.
"Every day (since) his death has been filled with a silence that should not exist and a grief that does not lessen with time."
The family has called for a coronial inquiry to help prevent similar accidents.