Crafty flying saves divers

By Andrew Stackpool

Two divers who were rescued after their boat sank off Mandurah near Perth, thank the pilot and passenger of a 2FTS PC-9 who helped save their lives. From left, Tom Rowberry, WOFF Graeme Black, James Komninos, and pilot FLTLT Ray Werndly.

Photo by LAC Allan Cooper

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* Two men whose boat sank during a diving trip visited 2FTS on December 8 to meet and thank the PC-9’s aircrew who helped rescue them.. After locating the distressed craft, PC-9 pilot FLTLT Werndly notified Air Traffic Control of their position and requested search and rescue support. He then led rescue vessels to the craft by rocking the PC-9’s wings and flying over the survivors.

ANOTHER Air Force aircrew has shown outstanding airmanship during a recent search and rescue (SAR) emergency.

On December 3, a No. 2 Flight Training School (2FTS) PC-9, crewed by Flight Lieutenant Ray Werndly and Warrant Officer Graeme Black, was returning to RAAF Base Pearce from Albany when it received a message from Air Traffic Control (ATC), requesting all aircraft in the vicinity to monitor a distress beacon.

As the aircraft continued tracking northwards along the coast, it received a strong signal on that frequency in the vicinity of the coastal town of Mandurah, south of Perth.

First indications suggested that the signal may have been from a boat alongside the local marina.

Immediately, FLTLT Werndly commenced a visual search and attempted to obtain a fix on the signal by a series of turns. This indicated that the source was emanating from the ocean, somewhere west of the town.

About 40 minutes later, the aircrew sighted a partially submerged craft near a reef approximately 13km from the town, with two survivors in the water about 20m away from it.

Upon sighting the aircraft, the survivors fired a smoke flare.

Immediately, FLTLT Werndly assumed the role of Scene of Action Commander. He notified ATC of the craft’s position and requested a SAR helicopter and vessel support.

After calculating his minimum fuel requirements for a diversion to Jandakot, he then commenced on-task surveillance of the craft.

He sighted rescue vessels departing the Mandurah marina and vectored them to the craft by rocking his wings and flying over the survivors. The rescue vessels picked up the survivors and, with only minimum fuel remaining, the PC-9 recovered to Pearce.

FLTLT Werndly said the survivors were extremely lucky. “It was a windy day and the conditions for a search were far from ideal,” he said.

“I used to fly Hercules [aircraft]. I’ve been out in searches in weather like that for eight hours and found nothing.”
On December 8, the survivors, Tom Rowberry and James Komminos, visited No 2FTS to meet and thank the PC-9’s aircrew.

They said they had been diving on the reef and had activated the beacon after surfacing and finding their boat submerged.

“Most of our gear went under with the boat, but fortunately we had an emergency positioning beacon and some smoke flares,” Mr Rowberry said.

“Even so, we were pretty relieved when the plane arrived overhead.”

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