SURVIVOR WARNED BLACKHAWK PILOT
21.06.1996
By TONY KOCH A SEVERELY injured survivor of last week's collision of
two Black Hawk helicopters at Townsville has told his family he warned
his pilot the two aircraft were too close.
Corporal John Fraser, 32, a loadmaster (air crew) with Townsville's
5th Aviation Regiment, was the only one of 15 on board the helicopter
to survive.
His sister, Jane Miles, who has been at his hospital bedside since the incident, said yesterday that her brother told family members that the two helicopters had been "drifting too close''.
Ms Miles said: "He called "left, left, left' and something
happened _ the aircraft suddenly banked right.
"He knows what happened.''
Last night, Cpl Fraser, who suffered fractures and serious internal injuries, was said to be out of intensive care at Townsville General Hospital and improving.
The main rotor blades of the helicopter, piloted by Captain John Berrigan, 27, collided with the tail of the neighbouring Blackhawk, piloted by Captain David Burke, 34.
Capt Berrigan's aircraft exploded in mid-air, flipped on its back and hit the ground.
Capt Burke was able to land his stricken helicopter even though the tail rotor sheered off. Although his Blackhawk exploded shortly after impact with the ground, nine of the 13 soldiers on board survived.
Each helicopter had two pilots and two loadmasters from the 5th Aviation Regiment, and that piloted by Capt Berrigan contained 11 SAS soldiers. The other contained nine SAS soldiers.
An Army Board of Inquiry has been appointed to investigate the collision. The board had a preliminary meeting in Canberra on Tuesday.
The composition of the panel includes an army brigadier who will head the inquiry, assisted by two colonels with aviation experience, and a lieutenant-colonel with Special Air Service experience.
They will be assisted by three legal personnel.
The officer in charge is expected to be Townsville's Brigadier Bill Mellor.
Australian Defence Forces director-general (public information), Brigadier Adrian D'Hage, yesterday discounted reports that Capt Berrigan had been shot accidentally just before his aircraft slewed and collided with the other.
Brigadier D'Hage said the back of the pilots' cockpit was
armour-backed and the initial medical examination of all the dead soldiers did not reveal any bullet wounds.
The inquiry would be open to the public and the next-of-kin, and would take evidence on all matters connected with the collision.
