Search crews find crashed helicopter off Anna Bay
After more than a fortnight authorities are confident they have located a helicopter which crashed off Port Stephens, killing all five occupants
Newcastle
Don't miss out on the headlines from Newcastle. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Exhausted searchers are confident they can confirm the resting place of a helicopter that crashed off Anna Bay earlier this month, killing all five occupants.
The Royal Australian Navy minehunter vessel HMAS Huon has been at Port Stephens for almost a week, using hi-tech sonar and search equipment in a bid to locate where the 1966 Bell UH-1H helicopter crashed after it faded off radars in terrible weather on September 6.
It is understood a specific area off Birubi Point has now been confirmed and specialist police divers are expected to return on Monday morning in a bid to retrieve any remains.
Respected pilot David Kerr, Queensland mates Jamie Ogden and Grant Kuhnemann, and Sydney couple Jocelyn Villanueva and Gregory Miller are all believed to be have perished in the crash.
Mr Kerr is believed to have been flying his modified helicopter from Queensland to Bankstown when it flew into strong winds and driving rain off Port Stephens about 6.30pm.
But the search for the machine has been thwarted by relentless heavy seas, with small windows of good weather of only a few days at a time hindering the process.
After a fortnight without any success, the Australian Defence Force deployed HMAS Huon to assist in the search.
The 52.5-metre Huon class minehunter’s search capabilities are better than those of the water police launches.
It is understood HMAS Huon left Port Stephens yesterday, with water police set to anchor over the specific area about five kilometres south of Anna Bay.
It is also understood that any possible body retrieval process could take up to three days to complete, if divers are able to access the machine and the remains of the crash victims are still with the wreck.