Sergeant Gary ‘Frankie’ Francis judged risk of ice fall was low

HIS experience as a mountaineer and cold weather warfare operator led to the death of Commando Sergeant Gary ‘Frankie’ Francis on Mount Cook.

ESCAPE: TOURISM NEW ZEALAND MAGAZINE ... A walk on the wild side The Braemar Station walk in Aoraki/Mount Cook is an easy way to be immersed in nature.

HIS own vast experience as a mountaineer and cold weather warfare operator led to the death of Commando Sergeant Gary ‘Frankie’ Francis on Mount Cook in New Zealand in July 2014.

An internal Inspector General of Defence Inquiry report released today (THURS) found no systemic failings but it questioned the lack of analysis of the location for the training exercise prior to the event.

The risk analysis had focused on the high threat of avalanche in the New Zealand Alps in winter.

‘The Risk Assessment omitted to include the time of year and the training location as being threats to be managed. The omission was minor in nature and would not have affected the Medium risk tolerance threshold from being applied,’ the report said.

Dangerous ... Commando Seargeant Gary Francis died on Mount Cook in New Zealand

Sergeant Francis was training a group of nine other Commandos from the Sydney based 2nd Commando Regiment in Mountain and Cold Weather Operations (MACWO) when he plunged 40 metres down a crevasse on the Grand Plateau.

According to one of his comrades, Sergeant Francis’s experience allowed him to make a judgment that there was a very low risk of falling into a crevasse and, therefore, it was not necessary to take any roping measures.

“Which was wrong. … The horrible thing to admit is that he got it wrong on the day because he’s dead. If he had got it right on the day, he would be alive. I got it wrong. I didn’t get it right on the day either, but luckily I was 10 feet behind him,” he told the inquiry.

The inquiry also agreed that had the two soldiers been roped together they both would probably have perished.

“The inference that may be drawn is that SGT Francis’s decision was more likely than not a reasonable assessment of a very experienced mountaineer, that there was a very low risk of falling into a crevasse and, therefore, it was not necessary to take any additional measures such as roping. Tragically, his assessment proved to be incorrect,” the report said.

Sergeant Francis was a former Royal Marine Commando Mountain leader and cold weather warfare expert and was regarded as one of the world’s top operators in his craft.

Australian special-forces troops regularly conduct alpine training in Australia and New Zealand.