Detroit, New York, and LA, but I'm stuck in the NT

A Little Close To Home

Hi All,

I'm not sure if you are all aware of the plane crash that occurred last week close to MRM. Here is an article taken from www.news.com.au

************************************************************************************
Two men killed in plane crash

By Karen Michelmoe January 19, 2006

TWO men have been killed in a light plane crash near Borroloola in a remote part of the Northern Territory.Police say the pilot and 47-year-old passenger, a field officer from Perth-based North Australian Diamonds, were on approach to the McArthur River Mine airstrip this morning, when their plane crashed.

Workers at the airstrip became concerned when the Hardy Aviation charter plane did not arrive as scheduled at 9.30am (CST) and called police.

An air search later found the overturned twin-engine Beechcraft Baron B58 2km from the airstrip.

"(There was) no sign of life," Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) spokesman Peter Gibson said.

North Australian Diamonds chief executive Alan Campbell said the Perth-based worker was enroute from Darwin to the airstrip, where another employee was to be collected.

The pair were then to fly on to the company's Merlin Diamond project, 80km south of Borroloola. "We are obviously shocked by the accident," Mr Campbell said.

"It's very sobering."

"Our condolences go out to the family involved."

Mr Campbell said the 47-year-old man had been an employee of the company since the early 1980s.

"He was based out of Perth but returned to Darwin just a couple of days ago," he said.
NT Police senior sergeant Garry Smith said police launched a search with McArthur River Mining employees after the aircraft failed to arrive at the airstrip.

"Police are still at the scene," he said.

The bodies of the two men were expected to be transported to Darwin for post mortem examinations.

Mr Gibson said the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) would investigate the crash, while CASA would review safety aspects.

He said it was too early to draw any conclusions about why the plane had crashed.

***********************************************************************************

I was told that there was no trouble with the plane at all, it had seemed that the plane just plummeted to the ground nose first. When I heard about it, I thought it was an AirNorth plane which flies MRM workers in and out of the site, it wasn't though. It's really sad as we actually fly over that area coming in and out. The weather was pretty bad that day so it took rescue workers about a day and a half to get the bodies out of the wreck. The two guys died on impact.

As you can imagine, my Mum freaked out and a few friends were concerned, but the planes we catch a lot bigger than that and are able to handle stormy conditions pretty well.

I never usually think of my plane ever crashing when I'm on board, but I did think of it when I came back to town on Wednesday. I suppose I do take things for granted sometimes.

Anyway, I will update you all more on what happened at work soon.

Take care.

Jack Handy Thought For The Day: If you think a weakness can be turned into a strength, I hate to tell you this, but that's another weakness.

posted by Anika From Darwin @ 9:43 PM