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| Touched by tragedy By Andrew Stackpool and LT Joseph Ternowetsky Volume 49, No. 4, March 22, 2007 |
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FSGT Michael Hatton, 47, sustained a dislocated shoulder and temporary blindness after striking an overhead locker, while LAC Kyle Quinlan, 23, sustained cuts and bruising. Five other Australians were among the 21 passengers killed. The aircraft concertinaed on impact but the collapse stopped just two or three seat rows in front of them. Although they were in an emergency row, they were unable to open the emergency door because the entire starboard side of the aircraft was on fire. Eventually, with the help of another passenger, they opened the door and vacated the aircraft. LAC Quinlan said that as they vacated, he noticed FSGT Hatton had a head injury and was in some difficulty. “I went after him, grabbed him and got him out,” LAC Quinlan said. After they were clear, he made sure FSGT Hatton was alright and then went back to see if he could help anyone else. FSGT Hatton said that it was “pretty obvious the aircraft was coming in pretty hard and fast”. “I said to Kyle ‘it’s not going to end up good’. The initial panic probably lasted about 30 seconds … it felt like it was going to last a week.” He said he did not fear for his own life. “We were very determined; I wasn’t going to perish in a place like that.” FSGT Hatton then lost his sight and asked LAC Quinlan where they needed to go. “Kyle did an excellent job,” he said. His sight returned about five minutes after the two men evacuated the aircraft. FSGT Hatton underwent surgery for a dislocated shoulder. They returned to Australia on March 8 and were admitted to Darwin Hospital for further examination before being discharged on March 9. FSGT Hatton’s wife, Air Force Nurse FLTLT Kay Hatton, and LAC Quinlan’s partner were flown to Darwin to be reunited with them. They returned home to Canberra on March 10. FSGT Hatton said he now just wanted to rest. “I’m tired and sore,” he said. “I can remember the whole thing. That’s something that might take [me] a while to get over.” Aircraft from 34 and 37SQNs and 38 Air Force and one Army Reserve medical personnel from all over Australia assisted in the aeromedical evacuation (AME) after the crash. In a major, high-speed response effort, a 37SQN C-130H deployed a 21-member AME team from Darwin to Yogyakarta on March 7 to support the repatriation of badly-injured passengers from the ill-fated Boeing. The Hercules was followed the next day by an Air Force B-737 and a Challenger VIP aircraft, which transported an emergency response team from Canberra and a small group of ADF personnel to supplement Australian consular staff on-site as they assisted their Indonesian counterparts to manage the incident. 37SQN then undertook the melancholy duty of repatriating the five dead Australians home on March 14. The aircraft was met by a small crowd of AFP and family members, as well as FSGT Hatton, who came from home to pay his respects. OIC of the AME team, SQNLDR Russell Brown, said similar tri-Service units had been sent to Indonesia during the Bali bombings, but the response time was not as fast. “We were there 12-and-a-half hours after the crash,” SQNLDR Brown said. “During the 2005 Bali bombings it took us just over 24 hours, so we have decreased [the time] by half.” GPCAPT Tracy Smart, OC HSW at Amberley, who helped coordinate the response, thanked everyone who had worked hard to achieve a successful operation. “This was truly a team effort and the result is yet another wonderful example of the capabilities of Air Force Health,” she said. “Well done everyone – now it’s back to business as usual.” Helping hands Units which deployed, were put on standby or supported the evacuation effort included: - 34 and 37SQNs - 1ATHS - 2ATHS - 321, 322, 323HSF and HSF Edinburgh - 21, 22, 23 and 24SQNs - HQNORCOM - 3CSH - OHS&TF - HQHSW operations and logistics staff - 382ECSS, 1AOSS, 321CSU, CSU RAAF Base Richmond and 1CCS - Defence Health Services Division and 28SQN |
