Thursday 19 June 2008

I wasn't there to photograph this

Steven Nowakowski captured this pic soon after yesterday's crash at False Cape, that appeared in today's Cairns Post.

Machans Beach videographer, Drew Sinclair is pictured, along with Down Under Heli pilot Steve Phelps.

Drew received two broken ribs and compressed vertebrae out of the accident. He also suffered a number of cuts and clotting to his eye. He's expected to make a full recovery, if not a bit shorter in breath.

It appears that the turbulence caught the pilot off guard and put him into a position unable to recover.

The Down Under Heli pilot, Steve Phelps, who also operates a fishing boat, has damaged ankles and will be operated on tomorrow to insert steel pins. He swears he will not fly again.

However, Steven Nowakowski told CairnsBlog today that they gathered a great number of images and footage.

"My camera was totally destroyed, but I managed to rescue the memory card," Steven said.

Steve Ryan from CAFNEC and False Cape campaigner Terry Spackman were both on the ground at the time of the accident.

"At least everyone is alive and in reasonably good health. We covered most of the site and gathered the images we needed to show [Minister] Garrett and the [Cairns Regional] Council what state the land is in," he said.


"It bothers me that after three years of campaigning against this awful development, the mainstream media don't get it. Sure a crash like this makes a good story, but the environmental impact of what has been going on at False Cape has hardly been exposed," he said. "That's why were were over there yesterday. Someone needs to tell the story."

Fellow campaigner and accident passenger Mark Buttrose, who is back in his Grafton Street office today, said he's already supplied some of the information that was collected yesterday to Minister Garrett's office in Canberra.

"We want some action. That's why we did this," he says.

They have now got the attention of the Regional Council, if not the Environment Minister, for next Thursday's presentation to the Councillors. The meeting is open to the public, and commences at 10am at the Spence Street Council Chambers.

If I was you, I'd get front row seats for this show. Mark and Steven will not be signing autographs afterwards.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Serves him right.

Fined once, now maybe he'll learn.

Anonymous said...

Oh how easy it is to sit back and be apethatic and not care about anything. Ignorance is bliss. At least some people out there care and are ready to take risks and push boundaries for a better world. This concept is probably way beyond your mental thought capacity.