January 11, 2012
An AGL Action Rescue Helicopter crew attempting a medical retrieval from Fraser Island says it was put at risk this week when holidaymakers shone headlights and a hand-held spotlight on the chopper as it was trying to land.
Pilot Peter Potroz said he flashed the helicopter’s spotlight in the hope the beachgoers would refrain from their disruptive actions, but instead they persisted.
The holiday revellers began driving from the southern end of the beach to the north, shining headlights at the approaching helicopter.
Mr Potroz said blinding the cockpit could have “horrible” consequences.
“If we are blinded by the light and we can’t see where the ground is, we going to have to pull power and shoot around and do another approach to the airfield … if we can’t see and we carry on landing, we can actually end up crashing into the ground,” he said.
“It made the landing more difficult than usual but we remained calm and concentrated on the task at hand.”
The crew was called to the island on Wednesday night to airlift a 36-year-old man with lacerations to his left arm.
“We knew the patient we were airlifting had lost a significant amount of blood and needed urgent medical treatment from our flight paramedic. Fortunately we got to him in time,” Mr Potroz said.
Upon landing, the helicopter’s paramedic together with QAS paramedics worked to stabilise the man who was later airlifted to the Bundaberg Base Hospital in a stable condition.
Action Rescue CEO David Donaldson praised the efforts of the highly skilled helicopter crew but warned that the incident posed a severe safety threat to them as well as the culprits.
“Safety is always our number one priority and the outcomes of the incident could have been catastrophic for all,” Mr Donaldson said.
“Our crew has done an amazing job managing this situation and the risks at hand, I can’t commend them enough.”
A helicopter spokesman said the incident had been reported to Fraser Island police.
Since Christmas, the AGL helicopter has flown to Fraser Island 16 times to help more than a dozen people.
[Photo: AGL Action Rescue Helicopter]
