Central Australian Aviation Museum remembers the role pilots, Alice Springs played in wake of Cyclone Tracy

The pilots that flew out survivors, and a Territory town which stepped up in the wake of Cyclone Tracy have been remembered in a special event. Find out more.

The Central Australian Aviation Museum honoured the 50th anniversary of Cyclone Tracy by highlighting the role Alice Springs and pilots played in the aftermath of the disaster. Picture: Gera Kazakov

With a DC-3 serving as a backdrop – the same type of plane which flew the first evacuees out of Darwin – attendees at a talk in Alice Springs learnt about the role pilots and the town played in the wake of Cyclone Tracy.

Held in the Central Australian Aviation Museum, punters heard from museum president Franca Frederiksen, her husband and former Connellan Airways pilot David “Freddo “ Frederiksen, and his colleague at the time John Myers.

Retired Connellan pilot David “Freddo” Frederiksen. Picture: Gera Kazakov

The two pilots reminisced about how the Alice Springs airport was packed when they landed in town, with dozens turning up early in the morning to try and help.

Former Alice Springs Mayor Damien Ryan – a young man at the time of the cyclone – told the crowd how he was one of many who was eager to help the evacuees.

“It wasn’t until the (plane) doors opened you realised something had happened, all those people on the plane were very different; they were shocked, and they were all in bathers or underwear,” he said.

Former Alice Springs Mayor Damien Ryan and Central Australian Aviation Museum Franca Frederiksen. Picture: Gera Kazakov

“That was that start of a week of being involved with the evacuees from Darwin.”

Ms Frederiksen spoke about how the Alice Springs community rallied together and raised money for those affected in the Top End.

From a population of 20,000 at the time, the town raised $250,000 in cash and “in kind” – “not bad for a little town”, she said.

Originally published as Central Australian Aviation Museum remembers the role pilots, Alice Springs played in wake of Cyclone Tracy