Boat crash into seawall YSSY

[Nigel C]

I've just heard a report that there appears to be a fatal boat crash on the western seawall at Sydney Airport. At this stage it looks like 1 body has been retrieved, and the Westpac rescue chopper, as well as multiple police and airport resources, are scouring the area for other victims.

[Gerard M]

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25034758-5001021,00.html

[NickN]

Have you seen how old the thumbnail photo is on the Telegraph website? Looks like a REALLY old Air NZ scheme.

[Andrew McLaughlin]

I got there about 15 mins after it happened after dropping someone off at the airport.

Just as I pulled up at the beach the Westpac Rescue BK117 pulled a body out of the water in the middle of the small bay right in from of the beach and hovered over to a waiting ambulance at the beach carpark. I heard a witness say that the occupant of the boat appeared to have fallen out of it in the middle of the bay and the boat kept going in circles until it hit the wall about 1/3 the way down from the beach.

After ambulance officers examined the body, it was immediately placed in a white body bag. The report is correct in that I would estimate the deceased to be in his late 60s or 70s.

The search for potential other bodies or survivors continued for about an hour with no result. The small runabout was towed over to Sans Souci by an MSB boat.

The Rescue helo
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p402/Magoodotcom/Rescue_helo_boat_crash_09FEB09_AMcL.jpg
The Airport Ops guys checking along the sea wall
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p402/Magoodotcom/Airport_Operations_boat_crash_09FEB.jpg
Searching the bay for debris and a reported second body, with the crashed boat in the background
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p402/Magoodotcom/Searchers_boat_crash_2_09FEB09_AMcL.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p402/Magoodotcom/Searchers_boat_crash_09FEB09_AMcL.jpg
The boat about to be towed over to Sans Souci
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p402/Magoodotcom/Boat_crash_2_09FEB09_AMcL.jpg

[Nigel C]

Good shots.

If there was a second person, then they probably won't surface for 2-3 days. I don't look forward to going back to work this week...