Hi All.
Yes, it’s been a deadly week for the aviation community.
15 year-old Jacinda Twigg and her Angel Flight Pilot Don Kernot were killed when Kernot’s aircraft, a PA28-180, crashed about 60 km from its destination. Jacinda’s mother, Julie-Anne, was critically injured in the crash.
CASA is investigating the accident.
Also this week, an ABC helicopter crashed at Lake Eyre in South Australia, killing the pilot Gary Ticehurst, journalist Paul Lockyer and cameraman John Bean. Lockyer and Bean were well-known and respected in the television industry. Ticehurst was also well-known and liked by ABC staff.
The remoteness of the crash site meant that getting emergency teams in took some considerable time. All three were dead by the time rescuers reached them.
And finally, two men were killed when their Vari-Ezy crashed near Emerald in Queensland.
Those killed were Ian Baldwin, a former employee of Central Highlands Regional Council, and Rob Behrend, the CFI of Warwick Flying School. They went on a training flight from Emerald at about 3:00pm and the alarm was raised when they hadn’t returned by 6:00pm.
Ironically, another Warwick pilot Peter Frith was also killed recently, when he and Richard Holgate of Canberra crashed into Lake Eucumbene.
Our sympathies go out to all those affected by these events.
More than ever, folks, fly safely.
