Whistleblower reveals helicopter’s distress call over Backstairs Passage

They said crews were forced to prepare for the worst after they were plunged into darkness over the water with a patient onboard.

A rescue helicopter retrieves one of the police officers injured in a horrific attack at Crystal Brook. Picture: 7 NEWS

A whistleblower has revealed shocking details of a hidden mid-air helicopter emergency during a patient retrieval from Kangaroo Island.

Earlier this month one of the state government’s ageing helicopter fleet was plunged into darkness over Backstairs Passage after a generator failed.

It was the second failure in the same retrieval run, after one of the craft’s two engines at first would not start when leaving KI.

Flying blind for up to ten minutes, four crew prepared to ditch over water and try to save their patient.

“The worst thing is they train ambos to save themselves first and then look to the patient, and there is a lot of training so all that goes through their minds,’’ the whistleblower said.

“In the event of us ditching in the water, and if the crew survived, generally the patient, being strapped into a stretcher would not.”

A rescue helicopter over Adelaide Airport Picture: Gavin Hughes

The fleet — two helicopters in a medical configuration and one SAPOL — is based at the SA Ambulance Service facility at Adelaide Airport, where there were fears for the safety of the retrieval team and patient.

The pilot radioed a “pan pan” message, one step below the “mayday” emergency call, but returned safely to Adelaide.

Ambulance Employees Association secretary Leah Watkins said the union was aware of the mid-air emergency, which was “scary” for staff in total blackness.

“I’m aware of the incident which would have been quite scary given it occurred at night and the cabin was therefore in darkness,’’ she said.

“I presume Babcock are investigating the cause and expect for the safety of staff that it’s non-operational until the issue’s resolved.”

The fleet is leased from engineering support firm Babcock via an agreement dating to 2009, and the whistleblower said staff were eagerly awaiting a new lease deal to modernise the fleet of decades-old craft.

A Babcock spokeswoman praised the efforts of the crew: “The safety of our people and the community is paramount at Babcock. This dedication and professionalism saw the crew respond appropriately to the incident and land safely at the base”.

The whistleblower told The Advertiser there were questions over the safety of the fleet of three Babcock craft, which were often out of action because of maintenance.

“It would appear the current government is dragging the negotiations (for replacements) out so as to not spend money,’’ they said.

“The fleet of helicopters are all around 30 years old, there are no new parts made for them, the only parts available are refurbished ones. I believe it’s only a matter of time before we have a major incident with one of them.”

A state government spokesman said the tender process was “well advanced”.

“The State Government is aware that the service needs to be modernised,’’ the said.

“Ongoing discussions are being held between the government and Babcock to ensure a quality service will continue to be provided while this modernisation occurs.

“Our government is currently well advanced in on open procurement for a long-term contract.”