Hi all,
The largest, regular, annual search effort for VH-MDX is again about to get underway. It enjoys participation from the SES, RFS, BWRS, WICEN and NSW Police Rescue. I'll be up there as a WICEN operative.
The main area of operation will again be the Williams River valley.
For anyone wishing to be a part of this, membership of any of the squads above or indeed any of the member squads of the NSW Volunteer Rescue Association is the ticket. Aside from this event, all of the VRA squads have a multitude of planned (exercise) and 'unplanned' (emergency) activities that you can participate in and so benefit your community.
I'll keep all posted on the outcome.
Good luck all, was listening to this interview with two gents, amazes me that they cant even get the Pilots name right, poor effort.
ReplyDeletehttp://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/local/newcastle/201208/r981418_10743241.mp3
ReplyDeleteHere are some facts that may help.We know the plane is on the ground. The last radar was 330* 46nm nth Williamtown raaf,only moments after this fix on the plane the pilot reports ......im at 5000 and then he is gone from radar and radio period!!! It would appear the plane was in steep decent during the last moments of flight,it is quite possible at this point the plane exceeded its turbulence penetration speed possibly loosing a wing or both,this should increase the chances of finding apart of the plane as it is possible the wing could have kited away from the fusalage some distance,this could be the reason there was no fire..(The fuel and the electrics were seperated befor impact)Based on this information it is fair to assume the plane didnt get to far from the last radar fix as it was in steep decent at that point.Myself and a pilot set about ploting this position on a flight chart.(330* 46nm nth Williamtown with a NE heading and the plane in steep decent)Thank god for my pilot friend because the calculation was beyond me to say the least.This is what we came up with!!!!! In the head of the williams river valley,deep in the valley on the western side of the river just bellow the williams river falls.To the best of my knowlage this area has not been searched as yet,I think last year they searched the eastern side and this may be because they have the plane making headway rather than in steep decent without wings.Cheers fellows.
ReplyDeleteHi Big Al,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your research efforts and also for your commitment !. I've been delayed in replying as we have actually been up in the Barringtons for the annual search plus a followup effort in Kanangra-Boyd NP for a lost bush walker.
The search area is actually in the Williams River valley and after 2013 and now this year, roughly 40% of it has been searched. It is extremely rugged country and only suitably trained, equipped and authorised people should enter it. I don't go in there myself but am amazed at the photos that come back out showing the sheer gorges, cliffs and waterfalls that abound in there.
As a by the way, we haven't found the aircraft ... yet !!
Hi Martin.Can you do me a small favour please?I need a rough sketch of the williams valley showing approx the areas that have been searched so I do not waist my time in areas already done.Perhaps you could email the sketch or map to me... at bigallain@gmail.com .If you can include the location of the williams river falls on the map this will give me a datom point to work from as I am familar with this location..Hope you can help,cheers mate..
ReplyDeleteHi Al,
DeleteRegarding your request for a search area map, I am meeting with a research group weekend after this and will put that request to them.
Thanks Martin,knowing where they have already searched will be of great benefit to me.As soon as I have this info my amature teem are going there to do some recon in an area where we have spotted a possible target on google earth with the intention of ruling it in or out.This will be the most dangerous search for us to date and could require a few attempts to reach the target as it is deep in the valley on the western side of the river where the folige is very dence possiblely requirering an accent of the gorge from the bottom of scouts alley. I will post a full report on this effort when we have completed our search.Cheers mate,,,more to come later.
DeleteHi Al, Up above I referred to the VRA and stated that anyone wishing to be a part of the official research and also the yearly search operation itself that membership of any of the squads above or indeed any of the member squads of the NSW Volunteer Rescue Association is the ticket.
DeleteEven the trained volunteer and professional specialists who go into that valley do so not only with their training up-to-date but are extremely well equipped to deal with the ruggedness encountered and are backed up by a small army made up of Search Managers, Communications experts, Transport crews and Paramedics. Despite all this they still come out of there with an assortment of minor injuries. They are also trained in treating the area as a crime scene if it is ever found. There have been instances of people not associated with this effort, dying in there in recent years. It is a dangerous place.
Hi again Martin.Yes I agree that it is a dangerous place to enter, however scouts alley is a well trod access point into the valley by the canyon sports people with a walk track to the bottom,The part of the river we intend to accend is quite tame compared to the streach near and above the falls ,after that our object is only 60m from the river to the west.The recon is to asess the degree of difficulty of getting there and to test different routs.We have had failed attempts to check objects in the past and this time I expect it will be no different,possibly requiring several attempts to establish a safe parthway.We have a support group who keep radio contact with us as well as navagation support (GPS),so we know exactly where we are at all times.We are very aware the valley flash floods and we have a detailed plan that we will not deviate from for safty reasons.We are willing to accept failing befor risk above all else.In this case the target I have identified is in a tough location but it is also the best looking target I have identified to date and it is in new primary search area.This is an itch I have to scratch.The people who lost their lives down there made an error in jugement and did not take into account the recent rainfall coupled with the prevailing conditions at the time.This is not an uncommon mistake made by people who venture into this particular valley.I have wrote this peice so as to put your mind at ease but also to demonstrate to other readers that going into these places requires planning,support,fitness and a willingness to fail above all else.Cheers mate
ReplyDeleteHi Al,
ReplyDeleteRegarding your request for a search area map, when I asked, the owners of the map didn't think it would be a problem but were going to check with higher authority. I have asked several more times but nothing forthcoming as yet.
Hi Martin.In the past I have made requests for information in regards to areas that have and have not been searched.It was quite common for people to be willing to share there details but also common for the information to not be provided so Im not surprised the details have not been forthcoming as yet,however I thank you for your efforts.It seems to me that the "collective" effort to locate MDX may be flawed.What I mean is that all of the collective information and results on ALL of the properly conducted searches to date are not collated in one place or plotted and marked off on a wall sized map.If all the different groups came together and did this the map would tell us where not to look.Now if we add anywhere that had been logged (Timber) since Aug 8th 1981 that would eliminate a lot of country where MDX definately is not.We could also rule out the top of the platue as a low probability area for now.Most of the area not identified as searched,logged or low probability would most likely be very wild country and searching and eliminating that country twice does not make sense,there is a massive job ahead of the search teams as it is.Since MDX went missing there have been a lot of searches that did not locate the plane, all of this information is relevant, only if it is used properly to eliminate search area from the equation.It is quiet possible that on the above considerations that 50% of the tops could have already been excluded from further scrutiny.More later,happy hunting and have a nice day.
ReplyDelete