9 RAN personell killed in Sea King Crash (from ATSNN), page 1

posted on Apr, 3 2005 @ 02:36 PM

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9 members of the Royal Australian Navy were killed when their Sea King helicopter crashed on the quake ravaged island of Nias off the coast of Sumatra. The Sea King, number '02', was operating from the HMAS Kanimbla which was due to return to Australia after 3 months assisting victims of the Boxing Day tsunami. The HMAS Kanimbla was re-routed to assist further due to the recent quake.

www.abc.net.au
Investigation

An investigation into the cause of the helicopter crash will examine whether the crew had been over worked in the weeks before the accident.

Concerns have also been raised about the helicopter's age.

The Defence Association says the 30-year-old Sea King helicopters should have been retired from service between five and 10 years ago.

It says the Navy is trying to do more with less and that is straining resources.

But the Chief of the Australian Defence Force, General Peter Cosgrove, says the helicopters are fine.

"Of course I've got confidence in the Sea Kings," he said.

"They have performed tremendous work and they are maintained by very professional aviation maintenance staff."

He says an inquiry will determine whether the helicopter had any mechanical faults and if the crew had been over worked.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

This unfortunate turn of events is bound to put the ageing Sea King design under close scrutiny in terms of future use of the type. The RAN may consider purchasing a new type of aircraft to operate in lieu of corrosion problems with the Sea Hawk. The further service of the Sea King may depend upon the results found in the upcoming inquiry.

Related News Links:
www.theage.com.au
www.latimes.com
www.news.com.au
[url=http://www.reuters.co.in/locales/c_newsArticle.jsp;:424f9d61:3b5a136ec27f1cca?type=worldNews&localeKey=en_IN&storyID=8069005]www.reuters.co.in[ /url]

[edit on 3/4/2005 by JamesBlonde]

JamesBlonde

posted on Apr, 3 2005 @ 03:45 PM

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I entered Sea King Crash into google. It turns out that this type has been running into a few problems lately. I would be interested to know peoples views on feasible replacements for the aircraft.

Waynos, asjr? You guys are usually a wealth of information on these topics.

[edit on 3/4/2005 by JamesBlonde]

Hellmutt

posted on Apr, 3 2005 @ 08:52 PM

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There has been quite a number of Sea Kings crashing recently, you are right. I have noticed that too...

The victims and survivors of this crash will receive medals of honour from Indonesia.
The Australian - Indon medals for chopper victims

Other links:
The Australian - Pilot may have tried to land
The Australian - Captain: nine have not made it

The Australian - Crash Sea King the navy's oldest aircraft

In September 2001 it took part in Operation Relex at the time when the Norwegian container ship Tampa arrived off Christmas Island and in the subsequent transfer of asylum-seekers to Nauru.

The Australian - Air crew bodies to come home

The six navy personnel killed were identified as pilot Paul Kimlin, and Lieutenant Mathew Davey, a doctor, both from the ACT; Lieutenant Matthew Goodall, a helicopter observer, from NSW; Lieutenant Jonathan King, a pilot, from Queensland; Petty Officer Stephen Slattery, a medic, from NSW; and Leading Seaman Scott Bennett, an air crewman, from NSW.

The other three victims were air force Squadron Leader Paul McCarthy from Western Australia; Flight Lieutenant Lyn Rowbottom from Queensland; and Sergeant Wendy Jones from Queensland.

Two survived the crash.