Media Vultures at YPJT

[DX Wombat]

Grrrr! It really makes me mad! Within a few minutes of wheels-up landing at YPJT this evening THREE helicopters belonging to different TV stations were circling the airfield like vultures waiting to pick over the remains of a kill. Fortunately, apart from the fact that it was A$850,000 worth of brand new Seminole, it was a safe outcome for the two POB :ok: and a big non-event for the media. :E If I can manage to do so from here, and the quality of them is good enough, I'll try to post a link to some photos.
I was also less than amused by the flying students who thought the whole thing was hilarious :mad: I hope that having received an ear-bashing from me they will realise the potentially serious outcome and also that one day it could well be "There but for the grace of God goes any one of us."
Yes, I did see it happen, and NO, I am not going to speculate about the reasons. The only definite fact is that it was the only aircraft in the circuit at the time and had allegedly requested a practice asymetric landing.

[Andy_RR]

The only definite fact is that it was the only aircraft in the circuit at the time and had allegedly requested a practice asymetric landing.

...is that a fact fact or just an alledged fact?

[Capn Bloggs]

Yes, I did see it happen
Either you've got eyes better than Chuck Yeager, who said he could see an aeroplane from 50nm away, or you need to change your location! :ok: ;)

[DX Wombat]

Andy - there was nothing at all to be seen in the circuit and apparently the person concerned had been told that there was no other circuit traffic (I didn't hear the radio exchange but several people had done so).
Capn Bloggs :E that is my usual location, quite often I am to be found here: N52.31.05 W002.15.57 but at the moment I am on holiday not too far away from YPJT :)

[UnderneathTheRadar]

Is the media any worse than those who seemingly rush to be the first to post news of any accident on this site and usually link to an online news site with little or no (or totally wrong) news?
Is it our desire for such stories as soon as possible (stuff the facts) that promotes the media's rush for any story (again, stuff the facts)?
Don't get me wrong, I have very very little respect for the media as a whole (some exceptions) but in this case I believe the rush for the gutter is not totally their fault.
UTR (putting soap box back under desk)

[das Uber Soldat]

not 100% on topic but close, what are peoples opinions on fully feathered approaches? I've seen alot of accidents where the gear becomes an issue, and a go around is attempted below committal height with bad consequences.

[Zhaadum]

das Uber Soldat,

The issue of feathered asymmetric approaches has been hotly debated numerous times on Pprune before.

PLEASE don't start this old debate again as it is not relevent to this incident as neither engine was feathered.

Z.

[scrambler]

Within a few minutes of wheels-up landing at YPJT this evening THREE helicopters belonging to different TV stations were circling the airfield like vultures waiting to pick over the remains of a kill
That sounds like the first paragraph of a beat up news article if I have ever heard one.

[Skystar320]

you sure your not a reporter beloning to one of those aircraft and was pis*ed of to see 2competitors getting a lock on your aircraft
:uhoh: :uhoh: :uhoh:

[tinpis]

Spose feathering would be ok if they were AWARE the gear was up :hmm:

[DX Wombat]

UTR, I specifically waited to see if someone would post a thread so I could say my piece about the "vultures" and I worded it carefully so as not to be seen to be reporting what must have been a distressing incident for those concerned and not helped by seeing those helicopters lurking overhead. The photos of the helicopters are not good so I won't be posting them.
Scrambler, that description is exactly how it looked to me. I apologise if my standard of English is such that you find difficulty realising when something is an accurate description rather than sensationalism. If you had been there you would realise that they looked exactly like a small flock of circling vultures. :(
Skystar - absolutely not! :mad: The very idea!:yuk: Kindly wash your mouth out with soap and water. :E
I'm sure Tinny will vouch for the fact that I'm not a reporter. :ok: So could Danny and many others if necessary. Mind you, the amount of money some of them can earn makes it almost worthwhile trying for one of those jobs - it would keep me in plenty of funds for flying.

[Islander Jock]

G'day DXW,
Whether we like it or not, anything happening at Jandakot or any other airport for that matter will be made out to be news worthy by the journalists.

[Dawn Raid]

Hey - just on the Jandakot thing - what about the absolute destruction to 1,500,000,000 square meters of bushland as you come off Karel Ave into the airport.

Not only does it look like a baron wasteland, but the dust inside the hangar has increased dramatically.

Who on earth patted who on the back whilst lining their pockets to get this approved.:mad:

Yeah - I know that it's Ascot holdings / JAH and the shire..................................... but what an eyesore.

[scrambler]

150,000 Hectares cleared. Thats 38 km by 38 km.
WOW lots of land

[DX Wombat]

What happened to my reply to IJ? :{
Scrambler, it is truly a scene of devastation :{ :{ :{ I have been away for a year and couldn't believe my eyes when I drove to the airport. It used to be beautiful bushland, now it is atrocious. Sheer vandalism of the worst sort. It is how you would imagine a lunar landscape to be. :{ :{ I'm just waiting for some enterprising little twit to decide to have a bonfire with those huge piles of dead trees and bushes - that will really make a mess.Probably going to have homes built on it for people who will be unable to see or hear the airport until after they have moved in, whereupon they will start whinging loud and long about the terrible aircraft noise. :(

[Islander Jock]

I know we've gone a little off topic here but I think Dawnie meant to say 150,000 sq m which would make it 15 hectares. They have definitely cleared more than that though. Probably closer to about 90 hectares.

What they have done is in accordance with the master plan for the development of the Jandakot site. Such a shame though to see a large parcel of beautiful bush just ripped up and cleared in a matter of days. Allegedly the environmental officer at Jandakot Airport Holdings resigned over the way it was done. The cynics amongst us suggest they did it as a dummy spit after the minister gave them a big fat NO to their relocation plans.:D

Given the amount of vacant commercial land in much better locations closer to the freeway and new railway line a few wise people around the strip have suggested that development may be very slow indeed to go ahead. Perhaps the same people who dreamed up the relocation idea and supporting arguments are involved with the current site development.:mad:

[UnderneathTheRadar]

Apologies if you thought I was having a dig at you - I wasn't as your post doesn't fit the vulture style I was ranting at.

UTR

[Led Zep]

I'm pretty sure the sign proudly states 1.5 million square metres. I also thought that the Jandakot bush was "Bush Forever" or some equivalent and was protected?! Whatever, it looks disgusting and the place does not feel as welcoming as it did in days gone by. I wonder if the water table will rise and the resulting salt will eat away at JAH headquaters. :E One can only hope!!!! :ok: (And not take the rest of the airfield with it...)

[scrambler]

http://www.jandakotairport.com.au/files/dec06.3.pdf

148 Hectares, equivilant of around 1.5 million Sq metres. Or should I take the link down lest this site become the "fact network"

[Islander Jock]

my mistake. Yup 1.5 million sq metres is what is advertised. Left a zero off my earlier calc.
:(

[DX Wombat]

UTR - don't worry, I didn't take offence, I just wasn't too sure if it was meant in relation to me so thought I would try to explain things a little better.
Frozo - errr no, that's probably about 90nm EAST of the location near here (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/DX_Wombat/DSCN0371.jpg) which is IWM Duxford, whereas I am more likely to be found here (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/DX_Wombat/P1011022.jpg), or, better still, in here (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/DX_Wombat/P1011494.jpg) somewhere above the ground :ok:
IJ, that's still 147,999.999 hectares too much to be grubbed up. :(
In case anyone is worried about it, I'm quite happy with this thread drift

[mingalababya]

Nice mix of aircraft at the field you fly from Wombat. Is that a concorde I see outside the hangar?

[DX Wombat]

mingalababya, that is Duxford, home to The Imperial War Museum. I don't fly from there, I fly from Wolverhampton Halfpenny Green. That photo was taken by my instructor as I flew in for the Cessna Fly-In on 6th May last year and you can indeed see Concorde. It is one of the early experimental versions with all the test equipment on board. You can also see a Vulcan and Lightning nearby. These are all now safely tucked up in the nice, shiny, new hangar behind them. It was still under construction at the time of my visit.

[Lasiorhinus]

Pass a Frozo -
Murphy's Cellars are not the airport operator company, therefore the regs do not restrict them from selling wine at an airport.
The airport operator of Canberra is Capital Airport Group Pty Limited, and other than TS's own pantry, there is no alcohol sales involved with that company either on or off the field.

[Bellthorpe]

What exactly is the problem with the media covering a newsworthy event?

If you're unhappy with three helicopters, what number would you be happy with?

[DX Wombat]

I have managed to find this (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/DX_Wombat/OutbackAirSafari2003471.jpg) photo taken three years ago as we were returning from the RFDS Outback Air Safari. As you can see it shows lots of bush land surrounding the airport. These others were taken yesterday from the ground and give some idea of the devastation,
One (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/DX_Wombat/P1010082.jpg) Two (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/DX_Wombat/P1010081.jpg) Three (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/DX_Wombat/P1010080.jpg) Four (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/DX_Wombat/P1010077.jpg) Five (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/DX_Wombat/P1010076.jpg)
It hasn't been possible to show exactly the same area but you can see that the RACWA building is now clearly visible from the road as is the tower and this had not previously been the case.

[Magarnagle]

Jandakot at the moment is starting to look pretty grim with all the clearing going on.

Reminds me of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl of the 1930s...:zzz:
(From history books, of course).

http://wneo.org/WebQuests/TeacherWebQuests/dustbowl/dustbo8.jpg

I washed my car on the weekend. That was a pretty pointless exercise!

[Islander Jock]

wonder if what they're doing at the moment with the mulching and resultant clouds of dust blowing over the rest of the airport is in accordance with their envionmental compliance requirements? :E
Do they have an enviro offr at the moment? :E :E

[Magarnagle]

Dunno if they have an environmental officer now, after the last one quit.

According to their new website:
Sustainability and the community have been key priorities from the outset in the design of Jandakot City. Quality, efficiency and environmentally sound principles have been integrated into every part of the development process.


Very little mention of Jandakot as an actual airport on the website.
http://www.jandakotcity.com.au/index.asp

A little off-topic from the original thread....

[Charlie Foxtrot India]

The (normal) combination of NW winds and rain blew and stuck a lot of muck on the aircraft yesterday.

I'd rather have the trees standing than have to scrape their remains off the windscreen.

The entry to the airport is now an eyesore.

:mad:

[Angle of Attack]

That looks lik a major eyesore, Does anyone know what is actually happening in the cleared areas? Is it going to be houses as someone mentioned? Seems quite close to the runways to be houses I thought. Or is it just going to be more land for commercial type buildings?

[Magarnagle]

It's been zoned for commercial as I understand it. I'd imagine that some of the areas across Berrigan Drive would be slated for residential.
Now that the Roe Hwy goes past, it has opened the area up.
Much of the area around Jandakot is marked as special rural, so development is limited.

[DX Wombat]

It's an abomination!:mad: What is happening to all the wildlife? I understand that bandicoots (http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/bandicoot.htm) are a protected specie so why has so much of their habitat been allowed to be destroyed?
I'm going to start a new thread which will be more obvious to people. Please continue this discussion about the rape of Jandakot there. :ok:

[swh]

Hi Dx,

Good to see you back in town again, you here for long ? of just until winter is over ? I assume you are at the lations place just up the road from JT again ?

Would be keen to know if the developers are on the phone spotting to the local media every time something’s happens to try and get public pressure to move the airport. Do you know if the choppers turn up when a similar aircraft also landed with the brakes on ?

The developers seem to be the only party that would benefit from closing the airport down.

[movin' up]

DX Wombat

Sorry to drag this thread back onto topic, But if you state in your opening post
"Within a few minutes of wheels-up landing at YPJT this evening THREE helicopters belonging to different TV stations were circling the airfield like vultures waiting to pick over the remains of a kill. Fortunately, apart from the fact that it was A$850,000 worth of brand new Seminole, it was a safe outcome for the two POB :ok: and a big non-event for the media. :E If I can manage to do so from here, and the quality of them is good enough, I'll try to post a link to some photos.


Then, if it is newsworthy enough for people on Pprune to see it, then why isn't it newsworthy for the rest of the population.

I think it is a little unfair to complain about the media taking shots of the crash in one sentence, then offer some to post pictures in the next, kind of implies that your were doing a little circling yourself.

Hypocritical?

Anyway, glad everyone was OK.

[swh]

movin' up,
I think it the method, not the content.
Similar method was used when the accident occurred on Rotto, the media came onto the airport ignoring most of the safety rules that a normal pedestrian has to obey, getting in the way of getting people to hospital.
If they arrived in cars, and stayed behind the fence, I think people not comment at all.

[DX Wombat]

swh :) how lovely to "see" you again. Yes I'm at the same place but only until I leave for home on the Flying Kangaroo on Tuesday afternoon. You were right about it being mainly the method. :( Hope you are keeping well. :ok:
movin'up, I didn't say I was going to post photos of the incident, if you read my later post it states that the photos of the helicopters were unsatisfactory. In actual fact I managed only one reasonable one and as that showed only one of the three helicopters I felt it unfair to post it. The photos of the helicopters are not good so I won't be posting them.