Whyalla Mayor Lyn Breuer talks of miraculous escape from the state’s worst air disaster in May 2000
EXCLUSIVE: South Australia’s first female speaker has revealed for the first time the incredible stroke of luck that caused her to miss the crash of Flight 904, the state’s worst air disaster.
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SOUTH Australia’s first female speaker has revealed for the first time the incredible stroke of luck that caused her to miss the crash of Flight 904, the state’s worst air disaster.
Lyn Breuer, former MP for Giles in the state’s north, says “someone must have been on my side” the day of the tragic Whyalla crash that killed all on board 17 years ago.
Born and bred in Whyalla in 1951, Ms Breuer was booked to be on the doomed flight that left Adelaide International Airport at 6.23pm on May 31, 2000, but a twist of fate dramatically intervened.
“Early in the day I was on a charter flight back from the Northern Territory to Adelaide with two (federal) Senators,” Ms Breuer, exclusively told The Advertiser this week on the anniversary of the tragedy.
“One of the senators requested, as we were quite close, if we could fly over Lake Eyre because he wanted to see the large flocks of pelicans.”
The state MP of 17 years, who became Speaker for the Mike Rann and Jay Weatherill Labor governments following the 2010 election, thought it was a nice idea but was compelled to point out the consequence for her.
“I told them I was booked on the last flight back to Whyalla from Adelaide and if we detoured I’d be sure to miss it and have to spend the night in the city,” she said.
“I had my mother and daughter expecting me in Whyalla that night and I really didn’t want to stay over.”
She asked if it would be possible to drop her off in Whyalla before the charter continued on to Adelaide.
The pilot agreed.
As the charter approached Whyalla around 7.15pm in darkness, news crackled over the radio there was a missing aircraft feared crashed off the coast of the steel city.
‘When we landed at the airport there were people everywhere fearing the worst … it was gut wrenching,” the woman who retired from state politics at the 2014 election and was elected Mayor of her home town last year, added.
“My mother and daughter were in major distress because they assumed I was on the plane.
“But someone must have been on my side that night.”
Eight people, including 22-year-old pilot Ben Mackiewicz and seven passengers, lost their lives in the accident, the worst Australian air accident in 20 years.
But before the full horror was apparent there was a tearful family reunion for the Breuers, rejoicing at the miraculous turn of events, before the MP headed to Emergency Services headquarters to observe the rescue operation.
“The Emergency Services did an incredible job,” the mayor, who before entering Parliament was a lecturer in Women’s Studies and Vocational Education at the Spencer Institute of TAFE, said.
“It took a week until they found the plane and then bringing the bodies in was just awful … and to think one (body) has never been found that‘s so sad.
‘It was a horrendous time, everyone knew somebody on the plane — it really brought hope to the Whyalla community that while we were reasonably large city we were actually a tiny town.
“We all felt so strongly for the families and when something like this happens it brings the community together.
“It is one of the biggest events of our history and the hurt of the community still continues.”
That hurt wasn’t helped by the cause of the accident being controversially debated for three years with two inquiries, that both found both engines failed, pointing blame in all directions.
Ms Breuer says the community felt very protective of Whyalla Airlines — which was owned and operated by Kym and Chris Brougham.
“A few experts tried to blame the airline and the pilot and then it turned out there really was no-one to blame,” she added.
“The company were home grown local business people; families that were well respected. They had served the community so well for so many years so we felt very defensive for them.”
Ms Breuer said the crash this week of a Rossair plane at Renmark that claimed the lives of three highly experienced pilots was a tragic reminder.
“That shocking crash absolutely resonates for all of us in Whyalla,” she added.
“We feel for the families and it makes us think on our time that had such a significant impact on our community.
“And of course it resonates for me knowing what might have been.”