emergency landing

'Chopper in Rotto landing drama'

As you know, we were on the beautiful island all of last week - and saw (and heard) Collins submarines churning through the cerulean waters and noted planes and choppers zipping about.

So imagine our surprise/delight when we saw the POST this morning and saw the attention-getting headline above.

It all happens on (or over, or nearby) Rottnest.

A ROYAL AUSTRALIAN Navy helicopter made an emergency landing on Rottnest Island last week after the crew thought the machine was on fire.

The Seahawk chopper, from 816 Squadron in NSW, was part of a big training exercise around the island that finishes this week.

The four men on board the helicopter got a fright last Thursday morning when the fire indication light started flashing.

“The helicopter transmitted an urgency message which was subsequently proven to be a false alarm,” a Defence spokesman said.

“The helicopter landed at Rottnest Island airport as a precaution.

“Despite no indications of fire being found, the circumstances surrounding the precautionary landing will be fully investigated.”

The spokesman said there was no threat to holidaymakers from the landing.

“Navy personnel are well practised to conduct these emergency procedures
as part of their training,” the spokesman said.

The exercise – which does not have a code name – involves three RAN
Collins Class submarines, RAN Frigate HMAS Anzac, three RAN Seahawks from the Nowra-based 816 Squadron and a Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion.

“The exercise is being conducted to expose all participants to a variety
of challenging and complex anti-submarine warfare scenarios,” the spokesman said.

Photo courtesy Dept of Defence and sexy image of Seahawk is the copyright of the Commonwealth of Australia.