Us In and on Lake Eyre, Kati-Thanda

Bought the new boots especially, at Aldi, to walk in the Lake! The old camera bends the horizons a bit! See the 2025 flood event… in the Lake Eyre Catchment www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-12/floodwaters-kati-thanda-la... Would you believe it cost me $1900 in 2001....3Mpixels 3x zoom, but all manual control options. Lake Eyre sat image www.lakeeyreyc.com/status.html# www.lakeeyreyc.com/Status/latest.html#bottom P8100083 Bogged plane at Lake Eyre to stay. – South Australia The following story is from ABC Rural, full story and photos at the link below. Reporter: Cherie von Hörchner www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-10/lake-eyre-plane-crash-resc... A light plane that bogged in Lake Eyre will remain as an outback relic after a rescue attempt went spectacularly wrong. The seaplane sunk in the mud after a forced landing three weeks ago, but attempts to rescue the passengers and crew and retrieve the seaplane itself, unfolded in such a comedy of misfortunes that the survivors are counting their blessings. "We could have survived out there with some food and water," said David Geers, pilot of the doomed aircraft, who was travelling with two passengers "But it was the water that was the concern, as we'd run out. We had decided to track up to the top end of Lake Eyre, and then follow the lake down to William Creek. On the previous leg to Innamincka we had quite a strong head wind, unfortunately. We probably had enough fuel on board, but one of the other aircraft travelling with us had some fuel in containers, so we elected to do a precautionary landing in the lake. I touched down, and we probably rolled for about 70 to 80 metres on the surface without incident. But it was just when I pulled the power from the engine that it started to sink into the mud. We were very close to the middle of the lake. The top of the water had a beautiful crystallised surface, which was about 10 millimetres thick. Underneath that was this clay; wet, sticky mud, which trapped the plane." The lake had appeared deceptively welcoming, the glittering surface disguising the thick bog immediately below. Realising he was in danger of sinking, Mr Geers contacted his friend Doug who was flying an accompanying aircraft. The other aircraft continued flying to William Creek to raise the alarm, while Mr Geers set off the EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon) and using his Spot tracking device, sent a pre-programmed message to his wife saying that they had landed safely but needed assistance." A rescue helicopter soon arrived, but hopes for a speedy rescue were dashed when the chopper itself fell victim to the harsh outback conditions. The helicopter landed but as it was shutting down there was an over temp situation. For safety reasons, they didn't want to take back off without engineers taking a look at it. So they radioed for another helicopter to fly out from Moomba. Now there were five people stranded on the lake. Afternoon turned to night, during which time they ran out of water and became concerned. With no moonlight, the only illumination coming from the stars, the five castaways were effectively stranded in the middle of a hazardous inland lake (in 2010, an ABC helicopter crashed in Lake Eyre during a night flight, claiming three lives). It was almost 10pm when the survivors were relieved to hear the sound of the approaching chopper which soon landed providing much needed fluids. But the debacle was far from over. While the passengers and crew were airlifted to safety, the attempted retrieval of the seaplane four days later almost ended in disaster. A helicopter flew from Kununurra in Western Australia and the plan was to sling the plane out. Mr Geers takes up the story "The helicopter, took off, and everything looked perfect, my aircraft being towed in a straight and level position underneath the helicopter. But, five nautical miles from where we were, my aircraft started to fly. The aerodynamic pressure on the towed fixed-wing aircraft began to exert itself, causing the plane to ‘fly’ of its own volition, its unpredictable yawing and rolling posing a serious danger for the pilot of the chopper. Howard, the pilot, said one minute it was underneath where it was supposed to be, the next minute it was out near his left window, and then it was out to his right. The outcome probably would have continued to get worse and would have taken his helicopter down as well, so he decided to release the cord and let my plane go free." Mr Geers said there was a brief moment of hope as the seaplane appeared to be preparing for a perfect landing. "My aircraft continued flying. It was quite surprising, as there was still a chance for maybe a recovery if the plane landed reasonably OK. But it only flew for a while, before dipping its left hand wing and doing a spiral back into the lake surface." While Mr Geers is relieved that nobody was injured in the entire affair, he is devastated at the loss of his beloved Searey seaplane, which will now remain as a monument to the capricious nature of flight in the Australian outback. from www.westprint.com.au Flight over Lake Eyre $260 Central Air Service account in St George VISA statement 02/06/00 from Marree Note for me. Have to look for some prints to scan and load.