Jetset journey breaches border controls

The delivery of a private jet from the US is under investigation after an unscheduled stop caused a declared health emergency.

Navair chief pilot and managing director Rick Pegus denies there was any attempt to dodge quarantine after bringing a private jet to Australia from the US. Picture: James Croucher

A private jet that visited 20 airports in 14 countries as it made its way to Australia is under investigation after avoiding quarantine in Darwin and making an unscheduled stop at Ayers Rock before flying on to Sydney.

The new Embraer Phenom 100 was collected in Orlando, Florida, on March 8, by two crew from charter operator Navair who then embarked on an extraordinary route back to Australia.

Limited by COVID-19 restrictions and the jet’s 2182km (1000 nautical mile) range, the pilots flew through the US to Canada, Iceland, Scotland, The Netherlands, Italy, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and India, before stopping in Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia on the way to Darwin.

Northern Territory authorities were expecting the jet and organised for the crew to quarantine at Howard Springs, but a short distance out of Darwin the pilots decided to divert to Broome.

Navair chief pilot Rick Pegus said he was concerned the jet did not have sufficient holding fuel for any weather-related delays in Darwin. “The flight subsequently arrived in Broome,” said a statement from the NT Emergency Operations Centre.

“It left Broome without crew having quarantined and without advice being provided to NT Health that the plane intended to refuel at Ayers Rock Airport en route to NSW.”

An Australian Border Force spokesman said the crew was subject to Customs and immigration clearance at Broome.

WA police could not say whether the flight crew disembarked the aircraft or not.

Ground crew at Ayers Rock Airport were not initially told the jet had flown from overseas when it made an unscheduled landing before 1am on Monday, and fears a guard and refueller may have been exposed to COVID-19 led to a declared health emergency.

Both workers were forced to isolate while awaiting the results of tests, which were negative.

The NT Emergency Operations Centre is working with its West Australian and NSW counterparts to investigate “all aspects of the matter”.

 

“We are investigating why the plane landed at the Ayers Rock Airport and whether any breaches of the chief health officer’s ­directions have occurred,” said NT incident controller, acting commander James O’Brien.

Mr Pegus said there was never any risk to the workers at Ayers Rock Airport because both he and his fellow pilot were wearing masks.

“I think there was an over-­reaction by NT Health,” he said.

“It’s complex because of what we have to go through and when you have a diversion thrown at you in the middle of the night after you’ve been flying for a long time, you just sort of do what you’ve got to do to get home.”

He and his co-pilot were now in hotel quarantine in Sydney.

The reason for the flight was to deliver the new Phenom 100 to its buyer, Sean Dyson, the owner of mining industry servicing company Complete Parts and Equipment Solutions.

The 38-year-old said he and wife Felicity made the decision to buy their own jet to aid with the expansion of his business into Queensland and ensure he could return to his family at Singleton in the NSW Hunter of an evening.

When Mr Dyson did not require the jet, it would be made available for charter through ­Navair, he said.