THE AGE Aboriginal leaders feared dead in air crash By AINSLEY PAVEY AAP BRISBANE Thursday 25 November 1999 Members of the board of directors of the Carpentaria Land Council are among six people missing on a light aircraft that disappeared on a short flight in far north Queensland yesterday. Late last night rescuers were investigating what appeared to be debris and an oil slick in the sea. A spokesman for the national search and rescue organisation AusSAR, said the debris and oil slick were located about 11 nautical miles off Tarrant Point, on the southern side of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Aircraft and boats were on their way to the scene. The spokesman said there was no indication that any people were in the water. Carpentaria Land Council chairman Murrandoo Yanner was not on board the aircraft which has not been sighted despite a day-long search by nine aircraft and several boats. It was understood relatives of Mr Yanner may have been on the flight. Mr Yanner refused to comment. The single-engine Cessna 206 took off from Mornington Island in bad weather yesterday morning for the 200km flight to Normanton on the mainland. A spokesman for the Mornington Island Shire Council said four men, including two elders and two young men in their 20s or 30s, and one woman from the Carpentaria Land Council were aboard the Cessna 206 operated by Karumba Air Services. The male pilot was also missing. A spokesman for the national search and rescue organisation, AusSAR, said nine aircraft and several boats had today searched about 2,300 square nautical miles of the Gulf of Capentaria and the rugged and mountainous gulf country around Normanton. The spokesman said the aircraft failed to arrive at its destination. "Nothing has been heard from the aircraft and no distress signal has been detected," AusSar spokesman Brian Hill said. The disappearance of the aircraft had impacted heavily on the local community, a spokeswoman for the Normanton Shire Council said. "There is a lot of concern because it will impact badly on our community," said Catrina Felton-Bush, assistant to the shire council's chief executive officer Graham Kellett. Mr Hill said the search had begun in extremely poor weather conditions, with heavy rain and cloud reducing visibility to about 500 metres. However conditions had improved later in the day. "The search will resume at first light and we will have more aircraft taking part," Mr Hill said. ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
