A SCHOOLMATE provided Ben and Seamus Scanlon the opportunity to retrace the steps of their uncle Mike Breheny’s fatal flight to the Northern Territory in 1967.
Upper Beaconsfield’s Colin Tucker, who went to school with Ben at St Francis Xavier College, runs tour company Vortex Air out of Moorabbin Airport, the same place the five Bunyip men flew out of almost five decades before.
Vortex Air does a lot of trips to King Island and Barnbougle Golf Course in Tasmania and is looking to develop winter trips to the Top End.
The Scanlon boys joined Colin, a couple of other mates – Andrew Tuck, Sam Tuck and Blake Batt – and a couple of Vortex Air pilots Michael Chylinski and David Woodland on a trial run last month.
They took in much of the ’67 trip, flying over the crash site and the intended destination, Daly Waters airstrip.
Colin said the company was looking to market the trip as a unique way to experience an incredible part of Australia.
The idea is to take in four states, four iconic pubs and four landmarks in four days.
“It’s a good way to see the country,” he said. “Winter is the best time to travel up there and things are a bit quieter down here.
“It’s for people who want to see Australia in its rawest form and don’t have the time to do it in a caravan.
“As part of the trip, we fly at 500 feet over Lake Eyre.”
Vortex Air is also working on a trip to the King Island races for members of the Pakenham Racing Club.
The Scanlon boys took a copy of the Department of Civil Aviation report into the crash and Colin and the pilots read it as well while on the journey.
Colin said Vortex Air operated under a detailed safety management system, but said pilots could learn from any accident report.
He said the pilot of the ill-fated Cessna appeared to be competent, but made a couple of critical errors in not trying to land and ended up running out of fuel.
Read more
[ Trip revives crash heartache ]
[ The twists and turns of final hours ]
[ ’Those magnificent men in their flying machine’ ]
[ Four states for mates ]
