Heron CLT was left in darwin due to non availability of crew to fly it out. Nammo saved the aircraft by attaching the tug to the rear towing point. He complained that when he opened the first four cans of beer, the wind strenght blew them out of his hand!!
Howard Bailes attempted to bring the crews back from Katherine to be with their families, how-ever, the weather was very poor and they were unable to align the aircraft with the runway after becoming visual due to the cross wind.
Contact with Alice Springs FSU was made using the HF in CLT, although the aircraft sustained some damage, the avionics were okay. Later in the morning CLS returned from Katherine and took over the radio relay role. Connair engineers repaired the damage to CLT to enable it to be used.
Connair DC-3 VH-EWE made the first flight out of Darwin mainly with Connair staff.