Helicopter down in Antarctica: Dec 2013
Latest update says wreckage will be removed
Australians injured in Antarctic helicopter crash expected to make full recovery - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Three Australians injured when their helicopter crashed in Antarctica are expected to make a full recovery.
The three Australians are back in Hobart after an overnight flight and are in hospital in a stable condition.
The pilot and two Antarctic Division employees were injured when their helicopter crashed returning from a penguin survey last Sunday.
The helicopter broke up on impact in the heavily-crevassed area. It was one of two Squirrel helicopters transporting scientists involved in a penguin survey at the Amery ice shelf.
The second helicopter was able to land nearby and help the injured who endured temperatures of around minus 6 degrees Celsius for about 20 hours until they were able to be taken to the Davis research station.
While at the station they were sedated and assessed as being in a serious condition.
The division's medical officer Dr Jeff Ayton says their condition has improved; one expeditioner can walk, while the other two have upper body injuries.
They could be discharged within days.
Dr Jeff Ayton says doctors more than 5,000 kilometres away were able to help monitor and review the injured via the internet.
"We used some very innovative telemedicine techniques, it's a first for the Australian Antarctic program," he said.
"We were using real time patient monitoring back here at Kingston to allow adequate rest for the lone isolated doctor who was managing the patients at Davis."
AAD director Tony Fleming says the complex operation to bring them back to Hobart involved three aircraft and was only able to be completed during a break in the weather.
Dr Tony Fleming has seen an image of the crash site.
"The helicopter is beyond repair, it is in a few pieces," he said.
Program manager Rob Bryson says Australia might need help to recover the wreckage.
"There's a variety of different ways including going out to other nations to assist us".
The Australian Transport Bureau is investigating the crash.
Australians injured in Antarctic helicopter crash expected to make full recovery - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Three Australians injured when their helicopter crashed in Antarctica are expected to make a full recovery.
The three Australians are back in Hobart after an overnight flight and are in hospital in a stable condition.
The pilot and two Antarctic Division employees were injured when their helicopter crashed returning from a penguin survey last Sunday.
The helicopter broke up on impact in the heavily-crevassed area. It was one of two Squirrel helicopters transporting scientists involved in a penguin survey at the Amery ice shelf.
The second helicopter was able to land nearby and help the injured who endured temperatures of around minus 6 degrees Celsius for about 20 hours until they were able to be taken to the Davis research station.
While at the station they were sedated and assessed as being in a serious condition.
The division's medical officer Dr Jeff Ayton says their condition has improved; one expeditioner can walk, while the other two have upper body injuries.
They could be discharged within days.
Dr Jeff Ayton says doctors more than 5,000 kilometres away were able to help monitor and review the injured via the internet.
"We used some very innovative telemedicine techniques, it's a first for the Australian Antarctic program," he said.
"We were using real time patient monitoring back here at Kingston to allow adequate rest for the lone isolated doctor who was managing the patients at Davis."
AAD director Tony Fleming says the complex operation to bring them back to Hobart involved three aircraft and was only able to be completed during a break in the weather.
Dr Tony Fleming has seen an image of the crash site.
"The helicopter is beyond repair, it is in a few pieces," he said.
Program manager Rob Bryson says Australia might need help to recover the wreckage.
"There's a variety of different ways including going out to other nations to assist us".
The Australian Transport Bureau is investigating the crash.
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From Derring-do and good fortune save Antarctic trio
Survivors of an Australian Antarctic helicopter crash owe their lives to two companions, and their rescue to an extraordinary chain of well-managed luck.
The injured three arrived in Hobart on Friday, 101 hours after their helicopter crashed and a white-out enveloped them on a remote ice shelf.
Good fortune sped them to safety, including availability of other aircraft, weather breaks, and on-site expertise exemplified by former Victorian police superintendent Bill De Bruyn.
Mr De Bruyn, a search and rescue specialist, was leader at Davis station last Sunday night when a radio call came.
''The communication was very scratchy,'' he said. ''We played it back a couple of times and picked up the fact that we might have a helicopter incident … There was a white-out, heli down and injured persons.''
The call came from a second Squirrel helicopter flying in tandem that landed beside the broken-up aircraft. But communications with it from Davis, about 280 kilometres away, were difficult.
Fortunately, two aircraft from the polar air company Kenn Borek were at Davis on charter.
''We were absolutely blessed to have the Twin Otter and Basler, the two Canadian crews,'' Mr De Bruyn said.
The Twin Otter launched with a medical team and made radio communication with the crash site. But Mr De Bruyn said they were not able to land because of crevasses. ''The pilots actually saw open slots, so it wasn't a difficult decision,'' he said. ''Then the opportunity to look for another landing site disappeared because the weather came in.''
The task of extracting the unconscious trio from the wreckage - with back, chest and other injuries, and making them safe and warm, fell to the second pilot and a field training officer.
Again, Mr De Bruyn said, the right person stepped up. The officer is a wilderness first aid instructor. ''I think the three people currently in Hobart hospital probably owe their lives to those two individuals,'' he said.
Mounting the rescue and evacuation proved a logistical nightmare. The Basler spent nine hours aloft giving weather information so the Twin Otter could rendezvous with the second helicopter at a landing strip 90 kilometres from the crash site.
''This is where the rescue gets quite incredible,'' Mr De Bruyn said.
''The helicopter still had limited visibility and horizon. We used the Basler as a lead … because under the circumstances the helicopter would have been at risk on its own.''
The two aircraft shuttled back and forth to the Twin Otter twice, then all three headed for Davis.
''If we hadn't got to the site as we did, we probably wouldn't have got there for another couple of days,'' Mr De Bruyn said.
Station doctor Judy Braga, from Gippsland, stabilised the three and they were transferred 1400 kilometres to the ice runway near Casey station. The Antarctic Division's Airbus A319 then flew them to Hobart.
Among them was the scientist whose survey of a remote emperor penguin colony was the reason for the helicopter trip.
''She said there were about 5000, in very good condition,'' Mr De Bruyn said. ''So she was excited about that. Unfortunately, she wasn't too excited about coming back the way it happened.''
Survivors of an Australian Antarctic helicopter crash owe their lives to two companions, and their rescue to an extraordinary chain of well-managed luck.
The injured three arrived in Hobart on Friday, 101 hours after their helicopter crashed and a white-out enveloped them on a remote ice shelf.
Good fortune sped them to safety, including availability of other aircraft, weather breaks, and on-site expertise exemplified by former Victorian police superintendent Bill De Bruyn.
Mr De Bruyn, a search and rescue specialist, was leader at Davis station last Sunday night when a radio call came.
''The communication was very scratchy,'' he said. ''We played it back a couple of times and picked up the fact that we might have a helicopter incident … There was a white-out, heli down and injured persons.''
The call came from a second Squirrel helicopter flying in tandem that landed beside the broken-up aircraft. But communications with it from Davis, about 280 kilometres away, were difficult.
Fortunately, two aircraft from the polar air company Kenn Borek were at Davis on charter.
''We were absolutely blessed to have the Twin Otter and Basler, the two Canadian crews,'' Mr De Bruyn said.
The Twin Otter launched with a medical team and made radio communication with the crash site. But Mr De Bruyn said they were not able to land because of crevasses. ''The pilots actually saw open slots, so it wasn't a difficult decision,'' he said. ''Then the opportunity to look for another landing site disappeared because the weather came in.''
The task of extracting the unconscious trio from the wreckage - with back, chest and other injuries, and making them safe and warm, fell to the second pilot and a field training officer.
Again, Mr De Bruyn said, the right person stepped up. The officer is a wilderness first aid instructor. ''I think the three people currently in Hobart hospital probably owe their lives to those two individuals,'' he said.
Mounting the rescue and evacuation proved a logistical nightmare. The Basler spent nine hours aloft giving weather information so the Twin Otter could rendezvous with the second helicopter at a landing strip 90 kilometres from the crash site.
''This is where the rescue gets quite incredible,'' Mr De Bruyn said.
''The helicopter still had limited visibility and horizon. We used the Basler as a lead … because under the circumstances the helicopter would have been at risk on its own.''
The two aircraft shuttled back and forth to the Twin Otter twice, then all three headed for Davis.
''If we hadn't got to the site as we did, we probably wouldn't have got there for another couple of days,'' Mr De Bruyn said.
Station doctor Judy Braga, from Gippsland, stabilised the three and they were transferred 1400 kilometres to the ice runway near Casey station. The Antarctic Division's Airbus A319 then flew them to Hobart.
Among them was the scientist whose survey of a remote emperor penguin colony was the reason for the helicopter trip.
''She said there were about 5000, in very good condition,'' Mr De Bruyn said. ''So she was excited about that. Unfortunately, she wasn't too excited about coming back the way it happened.''
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From just looking at the Cospas-Sarsat site, it seems to me there is virtually no 406 coverage in Antarctica.
I wonder what they use in Antarctica re SAR instead of carried beacons - possibly the old radio scheduled position reports and a filed flight plan?
I wonder what they use in Antarctica re SAR instead of carried beacons - possibly the old radio scheduled position reports and a filed flight plan?
HF and VHF radio and SOP is to have a standby aircraft within (I think) 50nm of your aircraft, which is the case with this accident and why they got rescued so quickly as it wouldnt take long for frostbite and hypothermia to take effect.
Iridium tracker will work OK.
So long as the base has access to internet.
Many vendors and solutions out there.
So long as the base has access to internet.
Many vendors and solutions out there.
Iridium works fine.
There's no such thing as a filed ATC flight plan for down low in that part of that part of the world.
There are comms operators who are holding SAR at whatever predetermined intervals are decided. There's also a met forecaster and/or observer on duty during flying ops keeping an eye on things. They are all on first name terms living together with the aircrew. The oversight and planning is excellent, everyone knows what's to be achieved and how it's being done.
There's no such thing as a filed ATC flight plan for down low in that part of that part of the world.
There are comms operators who are holding SAR at whatever predetermined intervals are decided. There's also a met forecaster and/or observer on duty during flying ops keeping an eye on things. They are all on first name terms living together with the aircrew. The oversight and planning is excellent, everyone knows what's to be achieved and how it's being done.
