Shark 05 in island

Shark 05, the RAN Sea King based on Christmas Island, and her crew successfully rescued three contract plumbers lost in the island’s jungle covered national park.

“They came through the aircraft door with thumbs up, big grins on their faces and eager for the water we carried,” LCDR Dave Hutchinson, the Navy’s Flight Commander on the island and the tactician in the aircraft told Navy News.

The plumbers, aged from 32 to 42 who were on the island to help build the new detention centre, decided to walk through part of the national park at the southern end of the island.

They believed they could do the walk in six hours. Locals said later the walk would take at least 18 hours, possibly two days.

After leaving vehicles the trio set out wearing football shorts and singlets carrying a four litre container of water held in a pack and a few apples.

“During the walk other items in the pack compressed the tap on the water container and three litres leaked out. When they went to have a drink they found they had just one litre left.” LCDR Hutchinson said.

The three men then became lost pushing through jungle and pandanas and sword grass as well as negotiating sharp rocky areas.

Adding to the danger was the 160 metre high cliff edge above the ocean.

On Monday morning when they did not arrive for work, workmates went looking for them, found their vehicles and reported them missing to the Australian Federal Police on the island who began an unsuccessful ground search.

“At 10am we were given a ‘heads up’ and alerted we might be needed. At noon, with still no sign, we were asked to look for them.”

Meanwhile two men were exhausted and had stopped walking and one had begun to drink sea water — not good — the third man, the fitter of the three kept walking trying to get help.

With pilot LEUT Nat MacDougall and co-pilot LEUT Paul Kinlin at the controls, LCDR Hutchinson as the tactician and LSA Jeff Weber as the crewman, the helicopter flew to the area and began a search.

“After about an hour we found one man standing in a pool of salt water on the edge of the cliff,” LCDR Hutchinson said. “LEUT MacDougall held the aircraft at the hover about 40 feet above the ground, while LS Weber winched down and using the double lift method, brought the man into the aircraft.

“The man told us the other two were about 2.5 miles away and had been sheltering from the heat in a cave.

“They came out and while LEUT Kinlin held the aircraft, LS Weber brought them on board.

“They guzzled a lot of water.”

LCDR Hutchinson said the trio suffered cuts and abrasions from the sharp grasses, were dehydrated and sunburnt. The helicopter took them back to the airport where a nurse waited to take them for a checkup.

• By Graham Davis
  

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