DPR 71/97 Wednesday, 7 May, 1997
RAAF AIRCRAFT ASSISTS IN ANOTHER OCEAN RESCUE
A Royal Australian Air Force maritime patrol aircraft tonight is assisting in the rescue of a downed pilot in the Pacific Ocean.
The P3 Orion aircraft, from RAAF Base Edinburgh in South Australia, was on a routine South West Pacific Fisheries Patrol when it was asked to locate a light aircraft which had engine failure and ditched in the ocean.
The Director General of Defence Public Relations, Brigadier Paul Tys, said the downed aircraft and its pilot were located by the P3 crew late this evening after Honolulu Radio had received a Mayday call from the pilot.
Brigadier Tys said a liferaft carrying the pilot was sighted by the P3 crew who had communicated with him via radio. The pilot, whose name has not been released, is believed to be from Germany and was flying a BE35 light aircraft with two other aircraft on a round-the-world trip.
The aircraft was sighted about 400 kilometres east of Tarawa in the Kiribati group which is about halfway between Queensland and Hawaii.
Brigadier Tys said the RAAF aircraft was expected to remain in the area until a Pacific Patrol Boat ('Lomor') from the Marshall Islands arrived on the scene. (EDS, Expected arrival time about 9.30 tonight)
Reviving memories of the Southern Ocean yacht rescues earlier this year, Brigadier Tys said tonight's search and rescue was another example of the Australian Defence Force providing valuable support during emergencies.
"Long range fisheries patrols, like the one this aircraft was on, are just some of the examples of Australia's involvement in the South Pacific under the Defence Co-operation Program," he said.
"The boat which will pick up the pilot is in fact one of 21 Pacific Patrol Boats Australia has provided to South Pacific Island countries and Papua New Guinea since 1983. The 22nd and last of the boats will be handed over to the Federated States of Micronesia on May 31."
He said the total cost of the Pacific Patrol Boat project was an investment of more than $150 million which helped meet the expressed needs of Pacific Island countries, including an effective means of policing their respective Exclusive Economic Zones.
It enables these countries to protect their marine resources which, in many cases, forms the basis of their economic development and survival, he added. It also fosters cooperative approaches within which regional countries can help one another.
Further information:
Brigadier Paul Tys Ph 0419 465392