Outback Corporation - 19. OBC Chapter 19

We suggested that they spend Sunday, flying out to the station, to test both planes, with an overnight stay there, and to fly to the farm on Monday with an overnight stop there, before flying over Esperance in formation, on Tuesday afternoon, before returning to the farm, where they will be accommodated until the facilities and accommodation have been finalised in Esperance.

The executives were very happy with this arrangement, and after collecting the flight crews from their motel rooms, we caught a mini-bus taxi out to the airport, so they could inspect the aircraft. When we arrived, Dad and I split up, to be with a flight crew and one executive each, to inspect the two-identical aircraft, firstly going around the outside, checking the planes carefully.

“They both arrived here eight days ago, and we had them thoroughly cleaned the day after they arrived and again yesterday, and both are fuelled ready to fly” I informed the Care Flight crews, who were in full uniform. About half way through the inside inspection, we felt the aircraft move. “It wasn’t me, the parking break is still in position” the Flight Officer said to me, as I dashed for the exit, and jumped down.

“Yes, I felt it too, and it was a strong one too” Dad said as soon as I was in sight, and he reached for his phone, “Hello Declan, are you and the boys ok?” I heard Dad say as he switched it over to loud speaker, and right away I could hear crying in the background. “They are fine, just shaken up and scared, the motel is still in one piece, and there no signs of any cracks, so we should be fine” we heard Declan reply, as I stepped closer to Dad. “Bryce, Toby & Isaac, can you help uncle Declan to look after the three little ones, until I get back. It will be a little while before Gramps and I can get back to the motel, ok?” I said into the phone.

“Sure Daddy, we are big boys, we can help Uncle Dec, can we have ice-cream when you get back please” I heard my oldest reply, “Sure mate, that will be fine, talk to you a bit later, bye boys” I answered and Dad ended the call quickly then dialled another number, “this is the owner of Executive Jet, Bravo Sierra 484, can you tell me if there is any damage to the runways, after that quake we just had, and any news on where the epicentre was please” Dad asked.

Just as he finished, a loud warning siren sounded, “Sorry, what was that this siren is bloody loud” I heard Dad shout into the phone, as we headed towards our plane, to get into a quieter environment… “a 6.7 and located 3 kilometres south west of Boorara, where is that?” I heard dad say, as I closed the door to the aircraft, so we could hear.

“…oh I see, well thanks for that information, as I stated last week, we also own those two new King Air B200’s, and will be signing them over to the Care Flight organisation, no not RFDS, Care Flight, they already have crews here in Kalgoorlie, so if the RFDS is busy, we are available to assist, thank-you, goodbye” Dad said and he ended the call, before turning to me.

“The epicentre was 3 kilometres south west of the locality called Boorara, and was a 6.7 on the Richter scale, and although the quake was 2 kilometres down, it was right below the Trans Australian Railway line, which has been severely damaged, with a lot of track needing replacement. The siren is it emergency warning siren for the Super Pit, there has been a land slide, and there are people trapped, plus the landslide has destroyed or damaged a lot of houses close to the Super Pit, plus the main highway south” Dad said to me, just as there was a knock on the aircraft door.

We found the Care Flight crews and executives looking a little worried, and we motioned them to come inside, so we could shut out the noise of the siren. Dad repeated the news to the Care Flight crews… “so you may be need a lot earlier than expected, will that be ok with you all?” Dad said to them, and the Executives agreed without hesitation, so I pulled out my phone and called the local RFDS Base, which was less than 400 metres away.

“This is Kyle Silverton, we have two Care Flight planes and crews on site, ready to assist, once your RFDS planes are in the air… yes that’s right, two patient stretchers and two patient seats in each, plus a crew of three, a pilot, a nurse and a paramedic, yes we are in our private plane, escaping the noise of the emergency sirens from the Super Pit… yes there had been a landslide inside the pit, and also the Trans Australian Rail is badly damaged, but the runways here are not damaged, ok, see you in a few minutes, bye” I said, and a gave Dad a small smile before facing the Care Flight Crews.

“The RFDS are grateful for our offer of assistance, and they have asked for us to go over to the base as soon as possible” I announced as I opened the door and lead the way out of the plane and along the tarmac to the RFDS base building. When we entered the administration reception, everyone was looking at the large screen tv on the wall.

“We have some breaking news from the Goldfields, where a 6.7 Earthquake has rocked Kalgoorlie Boulder, where the Epicentre was 2 kilometres deep and directly below the Trans Australian railway line, just 9 kilometres south east of Boulder.

We have been informed that the earthquake has cause a large landslide, due to the heavy rains the region has had in the past week, and that the main highway heading south, plus a lot of commercial and residential houses have been damaged or destroyed, we will have some more news on this horrible event as soon as more information comes in…” we heard the news broadcaster say.

The telephone in reception began to ring, and as one phone was answered another one was still ringing, in another part of the building, and a few minutes later, the operations manager approached us. “Mr Silverton, I am sorry at how you were treated by the RFDS Board in Perth, we do appreciate your assistance with this emergency, and that first call was from that office, putting both crews on standby.

Once they are in the air, I would be like to ask you to do any future trips, until one of our planes return from Perth” the operations manager said to me. “Yes, that is fine by me, and the two gentlemen here, are executive members of Care Flight Australia, and they have given the all clear for both crews to start work” I replied. “What about your private jet, could we use that as an emergency backup?’ the operations manager asked.

“If you have ground crew, who can carefully dismantle 4 seats, and you can round up two paramedics, two stretchers and all the equipment and supplies that they need… then yes, we can assist with that, although we will have to make a fast trip to Esperance to drop off six passengers, before we can help.

We have no time to pack, so we will have to get your cousins to come and pick them up from the airport” Dad said to me, and we walked back to our aircraft, and made sure that it was ready to go, whilst we waited.

With the little bit of training he had received so far, Dad said he was able to do pre-flight checks. Our flights to Jandakot usually take 75 minutes, plus take-off and landing time, so if we have four aircraft, we should be able to handle two flights with each aircraft, before the crews will need to take a break the operations manager said.

“Right, well we better make that fast trip to Esperance, so we can be here if needed I said as I turned and followed Dad out the door, Declan and the boys are already on their way here, they have already lodged a flight plan with Air traffic control. When Declan arrived, I took over getting the boys seated, and buckled in, while Declan headed for the cockpit, and a few minutes later we were in the air, with us being the first flight out since the Quake hit.

“Air Services Australia, Kalgoorlie, this is Bravo Sierra 484, just reporting in what I can see from the air over” we heard Declan say over the radio, “ASA Kalgoorlie, the Super Pit is a real mess, all of the western side has collapsed into the pit along with some of the highway, some houses and commercial businesses, I suggest you get more help from other locations, I will send you some photos before we leave, over”, we heard Declan say.

“Bravo Sierra 484, you have clearance to do a number of circles over the town, and in particular the Epicentre and the Super Pit, over” came a response, and as we did some circles above the Super Pit and the Railway line, in the cockpit, Dad was taking lots of photos on his phone, as was I with my phone. When I felt I had taken enough, I handed my phone to Dad, so he could send the photos.

Once this was done we headed south towards Esperance, which would take us about 45 minutes to get there, and we were glad to see that my cousins were in the terminal ready to collect the six boys. After a quick farewell, I returned to the plane, and we headed north again, back to Kalgoorlie, where we taxied directly to the RFDS Terminal.

On entering the administration building, the office staff were still watching the live broadcasts of what was happening. “This footage has just been obtained, courtesy of Air Services Australia, from the first aircraft to take-off from Kalgoorlie, after the quake hit, and as you can see from the footage, there is a landslide collapse of the western side of the Super Pit, with homes and businesses going into the giant hole as a result of the landslide.

The State Government has declared a State of Emergency Disaster, and emergency services, have begun the enormous task of enforced evacuation of all homes and businesses, located East of Boulder Road, Federal Road and Lane Street, from Hewitt Street and Boorara Road to the North, and Anzac Drive Roundabout to the South. The full length of Anzac Drive is closed to all non-essential traffic, as is the Goldfields Highway from South Boulder to Kambalda.

We have been informed that the Indian Pacific Train from Sydney will be stopped at Rawlinna Siding, this evening, where transport will be arranged for the passengers, and for the Prospector train due to leave East Perth this afternoon, all passengers have had their journey cancelled, but the train will travel east empty, to collect passengers that want to travel back to Perth, that are wanting to evacuate the area.

The Department of Mines and Energy, have forced the closure of all mining operations, within a 15 - kilometre radius from both old town halls, of Kalgoorlie & Boulder, due to the concern for more possible of future landslide. Road blocks are currently being put into place, to keep all residents and visitors from getting near this disaster area. We will be back with more shortly…” the news presenter said.

“Wasn’t that the footage that we took when we flew out earlier?” I asked my dad, who smiled and nodded his head. “Ah good, you are back” the RFDS Operations manager said, when he entered the reception area and saw us there.

“One of the Care Flight planes is already on its way to Perth, and another is preparing for departure shortly, we need you to do something else with your private plane if we may, we have received a request from Great Southern Rail - GSR, to round up some planes, to fly to Rawlinna, to collect passengers from the Indian Pacific, which will be arriving there, later this afternoon, how many passengers can you hold?” the RFDS manager asked.

“A total of 14 passengers and a maximum of 15 kg of luggage per person” Declan replied from beside Dad, “Very well I will let the GSR and Rawlinna know that you will be on your way soon, and I have organised for a refuel truck to come and top up your plane right away” the manager said as he dashed off back to his office.

Declan and Dad went in search of a bathroom, and a kitchen, and they came back a few minutes later with a cup of tea and sandwiches in their hands, and I went to find the kitchen to also get a drink and a snack, and we sat down in a small meeting room, just off the reception area, to eat and relax. Declan suggested that I come along as well, as there is a fold up seat for an extra crew member in the galley area.

‘Do we have any provisions for passengers?” I asked, “Only tea, coffee, hot chocolate and soft drinks, we better get something organised, before we go” Declan replied, as he stood up and set off to make some enquiries. Coming back about ten minutes later, he smiled and sat down again.

“All sorted, we have contacted a local cafe, who has given me a good deal for snacks, and a wider variety of drinks, so I suggest you head over there Kyle, and they will have it prepared for you soon” Declan said to me, as he handed me a piece of paper with an address on it.

When I arrived at the cafe in Boulder, and I had introduced myself as Kyle, the lady grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to the kitchen at the back. “I have been instructed by your boss, to give you a crash course in café service, and food preparation, I am not sure what type of equipment you have on the business jet, but I am assuming that it would be top of the range and fairly compact, which we have similar here” the lady said.

Straight away, she began to instruct me on how to make different kinds of coffee, using a coffee machine, and she gave me a laminated card to use for reference, as she made me try out making the different kinds of coffee on my own. Once she was happy with how I had progressed in training, she brought my attention to the three cardboard boxes and two cooler boxes on another bench.

“I have been instructed to come back with you, and have a look at the galley, and instruct you on anything that you are not familiar with. Come on handsome, grab some boxes and let’s be on our way” the lady said, as she nodded to her co-worker, and walked out the front door with the cooler boxes.

I had the feeling that she was looking at me regularly as I drove back to the RFDS base, and I was relieved when Dad and Declan stepped out the front door to meet us. “Hello Ms Hunter, I am Declan Grovedale, we spoke on the phone earlier” Declan said as he gave me a small smile.

“My word a handsome Canadian, it’s a pleasure to meet you” she said to Declan, “Thanks for the compliment, but sorry, I am taken. This is my husband Bryce, and you have already met my boss, Mr Kyle Silverton, of Murchison Pastoral Investments” Declan said.