IT’S not every day you see a rescue helicopter being given a ride home.
But that’s what happened recently when a 5 Avn Regt Chinook flew into Cairns carrying the local rescue chopper.
The stricken helicopter belonged to Emergency Management Queensland (EMQ), which provides aeromedical and rescue services from bases in Brisbane, Cairns and Townsville.
The pilot had made a precautionary landing when the chopper experienced mechanical problems during a search mission. The helicopter had landed near Palmer River camp, about 185km north-west of Cairns.
EMQ Senior Air Crew Officer Paul Tongue said the Chinook “was the only aircraft which was capable of reaching the remote location and being able to airlift our chopper”.
Before retrieving the stranded aircraft, a Black Hawk conducted an aerial survey of the site and Army riggers went to Townsville to practise airlift procedures on the EMQ helicopter based there.
Mr Tongue said the Chinook crew set the 4-tonne rescue helicopter down “very gently, which is a tribute to their professionalism”.
