Two bodies recovered from crashed helicopter after search off Anna Bay
The remains of two of the five people killed in a helicopter crash off Anna Bay, in the Hunter Region, have been recovered following an exhaustive search that began on Monday.
Newcastle
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- Searchers find missing helicopter off Anna Bay
- Search for crashed helicopter off Anna Bay
- Helicopter crashes off Anna Bay
Police divers have recovered the remains of two of the five people who died in a helicopter crash off Anna Bay following a meticulous operation spanning several days.
The retrieval operation ended late on Wednesday after searchers and divers had spent three days in and around the wreckage, about 5km off Birubi Point.
As revealed by The Newcastle News, the arduous operation began the day after the wreckage of the 1966 helicopter was discovered in about 30 metres of water on Sunday.
It had remained in its resting place since it disappeared from radar screens in terrible weather conditions on September 6.
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 Bell UH-1H helicopter from Queensland to Bankstown when it flew into strong winds and driving rain off Port Stephens about 6.30pm.
Police have confirmed they have recovered the remains of two of the occupants, although the remains have not been identified.
Next of kin of all the missing people have been informed.
The search for the machine and its occupants 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.
HMAS Huon and its crew left the area on Sunday after the wreckage was discovered.
Sydney-based police divers returned on Monday to begin the difficult and long operation to retrieve the remains that were still inside the helicopter.
That concluded on Wednesday afternoon and divers were packing up their gear on d’Albora Marina at Nelson Bay on Thursday morning.
It remains unclear whether a separate operation will be planned to salvage the wreckage from its resting place.