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Shocked...
As many have already stated I'm shocked and having trouble processing this... Les taught me to fly the MU-2 in the early 80's... we also spent many a day behind the boat waterskiing on Lake Moogerah... He was one of the good guys...
RIP Mate Mark |
RIP
Sorry to see Les go. He contributed a lot to Aviation and to me personally.
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A sad, sad day. I can only echo the sentiment here of many others. Simply, without Les's unwavering support of many young aviators, the careers of many who fly jets around Australia and the rest of the world today, would not exist. Including mine. RIP Sir Les
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Very sad news for many from the Australian Avaition and PNG community. I for one wouldn't be where I am today if Les didn't give me the opportunities that he did! May he Rest in Peace.
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The third Australian has been named on a pilots' internet forum as Darren Moore, from Leonora in Western Australia. |
that X is the world we live in :(
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RIP Wiz. Ozbash 2002, "Daisy" and all the other great stuff. :(
Also killed was marine pilot Chris Hart, whom I sailed with in the mid to late 1980s on the "Howard Smith". Affectionately known as "Choff" (Chief Officer), Chris was hugely entertaining and a skilled and competent Master Mariner, and was a memorable 1st Mate. Chris did his cadetship on the "Uganda". It was used as a hospital ship during the Falklands conflict, then sold off. Once, Chris and I were on the "Howard Smith" at Kaohsiung, and we passsed the "Uganda" lying on her side in the shallows, having drifted from the anchorage during a typhoon whilst awaiting scrapping. I still have the photo I took and it is a sad sight to see a proud ship dying like that. Chris was very moved by the sight, saying it had been the happiest ship he ever sailed on when it served as a cruise-ship. He also related the final voyage of the "Himalaya" in which he had been a crew-member. I sailed to England in 1956 on that same ship. Truly it is a small world. So I say a very sad farewell to my friends "Choff" and "Wiz". I am much the poorer for your departure. :( :{ |
The Chronicle newspaper (Toowoomba) today advises the surviving FO was 25 year old New Zealand born Kelby Cheyne from Toowoomba.
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Similar shot from another angle.
Sole survivor of PNG crash, New Zealand pilot Kelby Cheyne, recovering in hospital | The Australian http://resources2.news.com.au/images...-png-crash.jpg TB :( |
RIP Les.
Caleb says goodbye also. He will miss those shooting sessions. You were a great bloke Hope the flying is great where you are :) |
V sad indeed. I used to work in PNG and also used to work with International SOS elsewhere. Any news on the indentity of the New Zealander? I hope the initials are not RF...
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The FO is Kelby Cheyne.
Bodies recovered from PNG crash site - Seven News Queensland |
Was he really the FO ? Info I heard was that Les was doing ICUS with a new captain.
Any idea when they will be returning to Oz, and when/where the service will be ? |
It's what the news companies are reporting but as we know they are not reliable.
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Those who have been to PNG will know this press report Moving farewell | The National demonstrates the sort of people you mostly find there
Read the first half and you will have a picture of the kindly and respectful citizens of PNG. Moving farewell Source: By STEPHANIE ELIZAH MISIMA Islanders were in mourning as they turned up yesterday at Bwagaioa station to say goodbye to four expatriates who were killed in a plane crash on Tuesday. Government offices, businesses and schools on this Milne Bay island were closed as islanders and public servants paid their respect to the victims of the crash. The laid-back island has suddenly become the focus of world attention 48 hours earlier when a Cessna Citation jet, with three Australians and two New Zealanders, crashed upon landing in bad weather. The islanders came in droves, in their best dress, to farewell the four people whom many of them had probably never met. School children led the farewell entourage, forming a “guard of honour” from the island’s health centre morgue to the airport where a Airlines PNG Twin Otter was waiting to take the bodies to Port Moresby. The line stretched about 500m between the morgue and the airstrip. All district administration vehicles also lined up for the farewell. The islanders sang traditional hymns, some shed tears and many threw flowers on the path leading to the waiting aircraft. The bodies, wrapped in body-bags, were carried by district health and administration workers. “We were preparing the bodies when school children and public servants lined up to pay their last respect,” Samarai-Murua district administrator Hayden Abraham said from Misima. Shortly after midday, the Twin Otter left for Port Moresby where the bodies will be treated and handed over to their immediate family members. In Port Moresby, investigators announced that the Trans Air Citation jet’s black box had been recovered from the crash site. This instrument, which records operation details of the aircraft, will help investigators better un-derstand the cause of the crash which killed the four and injured the 25-year-old co-pilot of the chartered aircraft. Civil Aviation Accident Investigation Commission chief executive officer David Inau said five investigators had been assigned to the case. “I have formally invited the Australian transport safety bureau to assist with the investigations. I have already a team of three on site working with us,” he said. The Australian High Commission said those who died were Port Moresby-based Trans Air co-owner Lesley Wright, Richard “Chris” Hart and Darren Moore. A New Zealand citizen killed was unnamed. Co-pilot Kelby Cheyne survived the crash. Commission officials and a medical team travelled to Misima to assist with Cheyne’s medical evacuation and to facilitate the repatriation of the remains of the deceased. It said it was working with police and local authorities to have the remains repatriated to Australia at the earliest opportunity. The high commission said consular officers in Port Moresby and Canberra were working with the airline company and local authorities to keep the families of those affected by the crash informed on developments. Officials were also in contact with their New Zealand counterparts. Disco Stu |
To be trapped in a burning aircraft is every airman's nightmare. In small jets, the cockpit rarely has side windows that could serve as emergency exits and if the crew survive the crash they have to go aft to escape. Example - the ditching of the Westwind.
Many years ago the United States Air Force (USAF) lost several F80 Shooting Star fighters that over-ran on landing or on high speed aborts. In those days ejection seats were not zero speed - ground level devices, and if the aircraft canopy was warped or jammed the pilots could not escape. The USAF introduced canopy breaker tools, rather like a heavy solid knife, that was installed in the cockpit and which could break through the thick glass of jet canopies. Following the USAF experience the RAAF installed the same canopy breaker tool in certain types including the Sabre, CT4, and Macchi jet trainer. The first life was saved soon after when a Sabre ingested birds after lift off and forced landed into a rice paddy field. It caught fire and the pilot was unable to open the canopy more than one inch. He un-clipped the knife from its installation next to the canopy, and hacked his way through the canopy to safety. Visit the RAAF Museum at Point Cook and you can still see the canopy breaker knives installed in the CT4 and Macchi. The RAAF still have canopy breaker knives in some of their aircraft. If an ounce of prevention is better than cure (smoke detectors in houses for example) - then operators of small jets (or any light aircraft where a jammed canopy may prevent escape from fire), would be well advised to fit a canopy breaker tool in the cockpit to give crew a fighting chance of escaping a fire should the canopy jam or has no exit capability in an over-run such as the Citation at Milne Bay. |
Many aircraft used to carry a fire axe or indeed a tomahawk which will do the trick..
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My answer is that Darren was a really good guy who I had many fun discussions with. I will miss chatting with him through PPRuNe.
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Really Bad, it is a "!!!!!" happens moment, sometimes life is measured in seconds, but the reality is carried by us all for the fallen , we are one in the end.
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Yes very sad indeed.
Who was actually at the controls of the aircraft, as it seems there were 3 aviators on board? No I am not trying to point any fingers in any way, shape or form. Just curious. There but for the grace of God go all of us. |
Good old Centaurus gives his usual informed detail ... this time on escape provisions . Thanks John.
Please don't think this little unrelated story in way makes light of any of the foregoing heartfelt tributes to Les and the others and of what happened to them that terrible day at Misima. (Think Les. Think irrepressible humour) So purely an aside about judicious use of the crash axe . . . . . . one there was an F27 skipper name of Toby (rest his soul) When the hostie said the dunny door was jammed shut with a passenger therein trapped , Tobe came back with axe in hand and called to the one within "STAND BACK" . . and with a few mighty swipes cleaved two vertical cuts to lay open the door. Tobe's entry in the 14-1 (the company maintenance log . . 'the tin book') simply read 'Toilet door U/S'. |
Originally Posted by doubleu-anker
Who was actually at the controls of the aircraft, as it seems there were 3 aviators on board?
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From what I understand it was a check ride both ways with Wiz doing the return sector.
Les was cheky |
not speaking to anyone |
Les was PIC, and Kelby was Co-Pilot.
Darren was to fly with Les on the return leg. Kelby was saved by locals smashing cockpit window with a log (window may already have been cracked) and pulling him out. By then the plane was burning. There is already a fair bit of rubbish getting reported in the local media, but this was from eye-witnesses early the next day. |
Thats what I hear too!
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Those locals who rescued Kelby should be given an award for bravery.
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Who was actually at the controls of the aircraft, as it seems there were 3 aviators on board? Les was PIC, and Kelby was Co-Pilot. Darren was to fly with Les on the return leg. Kelby was saved by locals smashing cockpit window with a log (window may already have been cracked) and pulling him out. By then the plane was burning. There is already a fair bit of rubbish getting reported in the local media, but this was from eye-witnesses early the next day. Once all the facts are out - I sincerely hope some lessons will be learned.....so this disaster and loss of life will not be repeated. Such a pointless waste. TB |
"This may all be true but proves nothing."
Wasn't meant to prove anything, but Darren was not flying the aircraft. I know, because I know the peolpe involved, and talked to Darren early that morning, and he told me what he had planned. I had not long landed at POM that afternoon when I watched it taxi out and depart. There is now some doubt about locals pulling Kelby from the plane. Window was already broken, cracked, or he was able to smash it, and he got himself out. Regardless he is very lucky. Why it crashed is basically known, but the full details will come out in time. Tragic waste, huge loss to the local industry, sad for all concerned. |
With all due respect Mike - you don't know he wasnt at the controls when it crashed.
Anyway as you say full details will come out in time and it will then be known. You say "Why it crashed is basically known." Really - any chance you could enlighten us? TB :ugh: |
Tuna,
Why all the pushy questions ? I for one would like to know all the details as well,just like everyone else. Be rest assured any hardcore answers,true or untrue in relation to your direct questions posted on this forum,will be splashed over every newspaper in Australia tomorrow. It's already happen before in relation to this accident,even with photos. Until the investigation is completed lets just sit on our hands ay. I just hope the young pilot who survived can get through this painful experience,and move on with his life and career without it destroying him. |
Hey Mike
Agree with you. Sorry I missed Darrens farewell. Did the extra glass for him over here. BH |
Tuna, Why all the pushy questions ? in relation to your direct questions posted on this forum I suggest you re-read my previous posts and ONE question I have asked in this forum...it shouldn't take you too long..... Sorry if I've offended anyone but it seems to me some contributors have a blinkered view of things at times like this.... TB |
This may all be true but proves nothing Are you suggesting that someone other than Les was in the Pilot seat. |
DX Wombat
Yes, some bravery of the rescuer, identified here A teen hero has told of pulling a Kiwi plane crash survivor from the wreckage minutes before it exploded. Pilot Kelby Cheyne, 25, was the only survivor of a Transair crash on a Papua New Guinea island that killed four Australian men and one New Zealander. Trainee carpenter Henson Jasper, 19, told the Herald on Sunday he saw the plane crash during torrential rain about 3.30pm. "When the plane came in to land at the airstrip I saw the smoke," the Misima Island local said in halting English. "The left wing was on fire and I saw the wing explode. "I just ran down and saw the plane. I stood and looked in and the people were calling." He said the windscreen was cracked so he smashed it with a branch. "I pulled the pilot from the plane. He was panicked. I was talking to him and he couldn't answer me. "I carried him out and put him lying down. "I went back to help the others but I couldn't, because when I turned back the plane was exploded," he said. He said other villagers helped him carry Cheyne into an ambulance. He visited Cheyne in hospital. "I asked him 'do you remember me?' He answered me, 'I still remember you - thank you very much'." Cheyne grew up in Dunedin and Twizel before moving to Australia in his teens. After the rescue, he was flown to Australia and has now been discharged from Townsville Hospital in northern Queensland. Misima Island hero Henson Jasper, a trainee carpenter in his early 20s, heard screams and ran into the wreckage and dragged the pilot to safety moments before the jet exploded into flames. "He risked his own life to save the pilot," said Misima guest house worker Eli Uda. She said the jet speared into a stand of coconut trees at the end of the rain-affected runway before bursting into flames. "Everyone in the village ran towards the crash site as soon as we heard the plane hit," Ms Uda said. "Henson was one of the first on the scene and hearing cries for help ran in and dragged the pilot to safety. "But then the plane exploded and caught into flames. "He tried to turn back and save the rest but the fire was too fierce. He could not go back." She said everyone in the tiny island community was deeply saddened by the tragedy on their doorstep. |
Great effort by the youngster. Hope he isn't traumatised by the event and hope he gets the recognition he deserves - it sounds like he did everything possible.
Are you suggesting that someone other than Les was in the Pilot seat. TB |
"I just ran down and saw the plane. I stood and looked in and the people were calling." |
No- what I am saying is I don't "know" What more is there to "know" Other than that are you suggesting that as PIC, Les was sitting in the back and the marine pilot was at the controls. Or Dazza was at the controls with Kirby as PIC, Les in the back and the marine pilot sitting on Dazzas lap. BH |
Blackhand if you are happy just knowing the Les was PIC then good for you.
As for the rest of your questions, I am not going to enter into a conversation on a public forum about who I think might have been sitting where. What good does that do anyone at a time like this? (Except I can assure you I would be extremely suprised if the marine pilot had any involvement in flying the aircraft as he was a MARINE PILOT.:ugh:) All I'm saying is keep an open mind and wait for the outcome of the investigations. Hopefully the CVR will have been "operational" during the critical final stages of the flight! TB |
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