Grounded

Out of Commission

PETER MCCULLAGH

Collectively they cover west to Mt Isa, north to Torres Strait islands and east to Willis Island. SPEND any day on the Cairns Esplanade and you will be The QG Air service provides an exception level of supamazed by the number of tourists and local you see utilising port and service to our emergency services here in Far North this great public space. Queensland.

You will also see regular aerial visits to the Cairns HospiKestrel Aviation, currently have a planning application tal by the Cairns Rescue helicopter. before Council, seeking approval for a Material Change of

QG Air operates and maintains the service based in Cairns Use on a property located in Mission Beach. as well as other major centres throughout Queensland. This application if successful allow Kestrel Aviation to

Recently the QG Air Cairns Rotary aircraft (rescue heliestablish a helicopter services business in Mission Beach copter) was out of commission for almost 24 hours. Groundeventually offering to the community and government a ed at the Cairns Hospital helipad with an electrical fault, mixture of emergency services. requiring parts to be freighted from south. The Mission Beach location selected by Kestrel is stra

An electrical fault can and will occur with a well maintained aircraft. It’s important to understand this will happen, and when it does emergency services need to swing to ‘Plan B’ as a backup. tegic, located half-way between Cairns and Townsville, potentially providing support during bushfire season, maritime search and rescue as well as emergency service support to QG Air as and when required.

The Cairns based operations for QG Air covers a large area here in Far North Queensland. The rescue chopper is regularly sighted within the Cassowary Coast as well as over the Tablelands and Daintree and further north towards Thursday Island. The Cairns Rescue Helicopter is a critical and well utilised service in Far North Queensland.

This one aircraft can be called north of Cairns to attend an emergency patient transfer and then within the hour be required to fly south to our region to attend traffic accidents.

Ray Cronin, founder and Managing Director, Kestrel Aviation believes this development will provide significant value to the community in the region.

“Last summer, Australia suffered an unprecedented level of bushfire extreme events. Our crews down south worked alongside all government agencies to battle these fires.

What are the options when the QG Air helicopter is unneers available as well as our aircraft to ensure the region available due to mechanical or electrical faults, or even on is covered from an emergency services perspective as and call to an emergency north of Cairns? when required.”

Covering a massive geographical area, QG Air has two Currently the planning application is before Council and Rotary Wing Aircrafts in Townsville (one primary and one will be dealt with either later this month our during July’s backup), as well as one aircraft in Cairns. meetings.

“Having a base here in Mission Beach makes sense. The Cassowary Coast region for the past few years has experienced regular fires during summer, whilst not to the extent of some communities south, but we do have a need here. Last month, a 76-year-old woman was flown to the Townsville Hospital by the QG Air rescue helicopter after a “When we are fully established our goal is to provide an important hub for emergency services here in the region. quad-bike accident near Innisfail. Facilities will be available for QG Air to refuel, our engi