Fri "Herald Sun"
Elite chopper pilots among dead
By Holly Ife, Chloe Adams, Mark Buttler and Paul Anderson
July 30, 2004
TWO members of the elite Black Hawk military helicopter regiment were among the six people killed in an air tragedy in Victoria's northeast.
Pilot Alan Stark and mate Geoff Brockie died together in the twin-engine Piper Cheyenne, which crashed and burned on Wednesday in remote bushland. The pair served together in the Australian Defence Force regiment's Townsville barracks.
It is not known whether they were attached to the regiment in June 1996, when two of its helicopters crashed in a night exercise, killing 18 men.
Mr Brockie has also worked as an international pilot for Qantas.
Mr Stark's wife Jacqueline Henderson and her best friend Belinda Andrews also died in the crash as did Jacqueline's father Robert Henderson and pilot Kerry Endicott.
The group flew south to Benalla from Sydney's Bankstown Airport, with plans to visit the area's famous winery region.
It is believed the close-knit group had no warning of the unfolding disaster as Mr Endicott piloted them through foul weather.
Crash investigators said yesterday the damage was so bad they may never be able to pin down the cause of the accident at Myrrhee, 33km southeast of Wangaratta.
The bodies had not been retrieved as darkness fell last night.
David Henderson Jr, son of Robert Henderson's brother and business partner David, said the family was devastated. "Everyone's in tremendous pain," he said.
"We are emotionally numb. The fact that we waited with bated breath yesterday makes it even harder. It's devastating.
"From what I'm told they wouldn't have been able to see anything. They were probably chatting one second and gone the next. Dad's not only lost his only brother but a long-time friend and business partner of 40 years.
"He was his best mate. It's even harder for Robert's children and wife."
Mr Henderson, in his early 60s, flew only twice a year to Benalla, where his successful particleboard company has a factory.
Mr Endicott flew there each week. Mr Henderson Jr made the same trip with Mr Endicott a day earlier. "It makes it all the harder to understand," he said. "We had similar weather that day, too, but Kerry knew the terrain and the aircraft intimately. He had landed there 1000 times.
"He was a great pilot who had flown all his life. I had absolute faith in his ability. He was the company's full-time pilot for more than 10 years."
Mrs Andrews, a wife and mother of two, and Jacqueline Henderson were friends at school.
Mrs Andrews' husband said he was too upset to comment on the tragic loss of his wife.
Ms Henderson and Mr Stark had this week travelled to Sydney from their home in Mackay, Queensland, to see family.
Myrrhee school bus driver Ron Moorhead was deeply upset by what he saw at the scene.
"It's terribly sad for the loss of life," he said.
Mr Moorhead had just returned from dropping the last students home about 5.30pm when he heard on the radio reports of the missing plane. "I thought since it was right in this neck of the woods I'd look out for it," he said. "I could see the smoke through the trees and the paramedics' helicopter was right overhead."
Coroner Graeme Johnstone arrived at search headquarters about 1.30pm. He was briefed by emergency services in the Myrrhee Soldiers Memorial Hall before joining Australian Transport Safety Bureau inspectors at the crash site.
State Emergency Service volunteers cut a fresh track into the area, because of the inhospitable terrain and dense bush.
Debris was spread 100m from the site, and rain and fog made the task difficult for the inspectors and emergency services.
ATSB crash investigator Alex Hood said his team had completed a preliminary survey.
He said it was too early to comment on reasons for the crash and fire had destroyed vital evidence.
Herald Sun
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