[B]Chopper Missing near Mt Isa[/B]
 

Lets hope this turns out OK.

A helicopter with four people aboard is missing in the Mount Kelly area, about 100km north of Mount Isa in Queensland's far north-west.

The four-seater Robinson R44 helicopter left Mount Isa airport early on Tuesday with a 28-year-old woman pilot.

Police say she picked up three male passengers at Mount Gordon to take them to conduct a geological survey of the Mount Gordon and Mount Kelly areas.

Initial investigations suggest the helicopter was due to be at the Mount Kelly landing strip by about 4.15pm (AEST) before returning to Mount Isa by 7.30pm.


It did not turn up at the Mount Kelly landing site.

Sorry, it didn't

Search party finds crashed helicopter
Wednesday Feb 22 14:15 AEDT
The wreckage of helicopter missing in far north western Queensland with four people on board has been found.
The wreckage was spotted by a search helicopter about 11.30am (AEST), about 150km north of Mount Isa police said.
A 28-year-old female pilot and three male passengers aged 50, 35 and 38 were believed to be on board at the time.
The Courier Mail says all four people on board were killed, according to air safety authorities.
The helicopter failed to arrive at the Mount Kelly landing site - about 100 km north of Mount Isa - at the scheduled time of 4.15pm (AEST).
A spokeswoman for search and rescue body AusSAR said the wreckage was found five nautical miles west of an area called Gunpowder.
She said it was not known whether there were any survivors.
"Because the area is inaccessible, we have to land people in a specific area and walk them in," the spokeswoman said.
"It's impossible to say whether there are any survivors at this stage ... we won't be able to tell until we can get down there."
©AAP 2005 LATEST NEWS

Its an R44 VH-HBS
News item from ABC News Online:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems...2/s1575847.htm

Condolences to all concerned :sad:

sad to hear, condolances to all affected.

5nm west of gunpowder mine...that's tiger country across those ranges from memory. Wouldn't like to have to put a chopper into that country in a hurry.