25th anniversary of Black Hawk disaster at High Range near Townsville
Solemn commemorations will be held today to mark the 25th anniversary of a tragedy that tore at the fabric of Townsville and Australia’s defence community.
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Solemn commemorations will be held today to mark the 25th anniversary of a tragedy that tore at the fabric of Townsville and Australia’s defence community.
On June 12, 1996 two Black Hawk helicopters from the 5th Aviation Regiment collided in an exercise at High Range.
Eighteen men died – three from Townsville’s 5th Aviation Regiment and 15 from the Perth-based Special Air Service Regiment, with a dozen more injured.
Many families from Townsville and across the country were impacted by the tragedy, which remains Australia’s worst peacetime military aviation disaster.
It significantly changed Australian Army and SAS training protocols.
It left 11 children, then aged between 2 and 15, without fathers.
“It’s been the worst accident we’ve had in aviation it was a very big hit to the unit, to the Special Air Service Regiment and to the ADF as a whole,” Commanding Officer of the 5th Aviation Regiment Lieutenant Colonel Jamie Martin said during a ceremony in Townsville last year.
“It impacted a lot of people, a lot of families of the regiment, families of the soldiers and the wider ADF community.”
The helicopters were on a standard night counterterrorist exercise known as Day Rotor at the High Range Training Area, about 80km west of Townsville.
The training was to ensure the Australian Defence Force was capable of defending against the threat of a terrorist attack.
Four of the helicopters were travelling 30 metres apart at about 160km/h, but the machine on the far left suddenly veered right and its huge rotor blade tore into the tail rotor of the helicopter next to it.
“We do not know why that aircraft moved right,” said Lieutenant Colonel Tony Fraser, the commanding officer of the regiment at the time.
As news of the tragedy began to filter out, Townsville and the wider defence community was gripped in shock.
Third Brigade commander Brigadier Mike Smith spoke to media outside Townsville Hospital in the hours after the tragedy unfolded.
“I would like, on behalf of the army, to extend my deepest sympathies to the relatives of the dead and injured,” he said.
“It is a catastrophe and I don’t believe anything like this accident has happened in Australia before.
“These soldiers were in very dangerous training. They had been doing rehearsals all afternoon.
“The Blackhawks were coming in to land – these were the lead aircraft – when they collided.
“The soldiers were about to do hot rope exercises. These soldiers do this sort of exercise regularly.”
Peter Nilson, an ambulance officer at Townsville General Hospital in North Ward, said nearby Queens Park resembled a battleground as Black Hawks descended on the oval and unloaded injured soldiers.
“It was quite incredible,” Mr Nilson said.
“They would only give their name and where they were from.
“It’s their training. Other people would have reacted in completely different ways.”
The 5th Aviation Regiment will host the commemoration at the Palmetum gardens from 9.45am, and a Black Hawk helicopter fly-past will form part of the service.
Originally published as 25th anniversary of Black Hawk disaster at High Range near Townsville
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