{"id":225,"date":"2017-11-27T16:48:23","date_gmt":"2017-11-27T06:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/?page_id=225"},"modified":"2018-01-08T21:26:32","modified_gmt":"2018-01-08T11:26:32","slug":"bass-straight-helicopter-crash","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/national-film-and-sound-archive\/bass-straight-helicopter-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Bass Straight Helicopter Crash 22-March-1968"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is part of an interview Series for the National Film and Sound Archive Aural History Programme by John Fife.<\/strong><\/p>\n

My name is John Fife (JF<\/strong>) and I have with me Morrie Pilens (MP<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Sometimes yes, sometimes no.\u00a0 Have we spoken about the helicopter crash yet?<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 No, we want to get to there soon.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Well maybe now, because it\u2019s part of exclusivity.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Tell us the story from the beginning.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 From the beginning.\u00a0 There\u2019s a nice little job for tomorrow, and you\u2019re going to Sale \u2013 it\u2019s a PR job on a rig, and then you\u2019re going to have lunch inside.\u00a0 It\u2019s a nice little job.\u00a0 Your journalist\u2019s going to be\u2026 forgotten his name.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So this is about \u201968?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yes, early 70\u2019s maybe.\u00a0 Something like that.\u00a0 Anyway I said \u2018Yes, okay.\u2019\u00a0 So the next morning I\u2019m driving up to the studios to pick up my journalist.\u00a0 I\u2019m waiting and waiting and waiting.\u00a0 It\u2019s 11 o\u2019clock and he\u2019s not there.\u00a0 I say \u2018Oh, I\u2019d better hurry up\u2019 so I ring him.\u00a0 And he\u2019s in bed.\u00a0 He lives up in the hills somewhere.<\/p>\n

He says \u2018Oh, no no don\u2019t worry.\u00a0 You can go by yourself.\u00a0 That\u2019s alright, you\u2019re covered by yourself.\u2019\u00a0 So I think okay.\u00a0 I hop in the car and drive like mad out to Essendon airport, and the DC3 is just about taking off when I arrive there.\u00a0 I\u2019m waving my hands saying \u2018Wait for me!\u2019\u00a0\u00a0 They did!\u00a0 Stopped, opened the door, got me in.\u00a0 Oh, PR job mate.\u00a0 And off we go to Sale.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

From Sale we all hop into a helicopter.\u00a0 We\u2019re divided into two groups.\u00a0 One group\u2019s going to go first and finish, then the next group\u2019s going to go.\u00a0 So we all hop in the helicopter and off we go to the rig.\u00a0 Barracouta I think.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 How many of you would have got onto one chopper?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 One two three four.\u00a0 Four with myself.\u00a0 So off we go to Sale (means the rig) and film cooks doing a little bit of cooking, and blokes relaxing in their relaxing rooms, and others working, putting pipes together and going up and down.\u00a0 And there is a PR guy conducting us.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Captured from the footage by Modris Pilens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

JF:\u00a0 So you\u2019re on the rig now?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yes we\u2019re on the rig.\u00a0 And he\u2019s sort of talking and couple of shots of this.\u00a0 I shot 200 feet of film and *said \u2018Okay, fine, I\u2019ve got enough.\u2019\u00a0 The other cameramen were Wolfgang Beerhardt? Sydney *cameraman \u2013 a German cameraman that got himself a job with ABC \u2013 Keith Rankin who was chief cameraman for channel 9 and whose background is ambulance, and Geoff Bell who\u2019s freelancing for 7 at this stage.<\/p>\n

So I said to the PR guy, \u201cLook, when we were landing we shot through the Perspex windows and they\u2019re scratched, and it looks shithouse.\u00a0 Can I have one flight there and back across the rig, with the door off?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Ohhh, we\u2019re late for lunch\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n

I said \u2018Look, the story is as far as I\u2019m concerned, this lonely little bloody thing in the middle of nowhere, with a clear picture.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Okay\u2019\u00a0 \u2018Who else wants to go?\u2019<\/p>\n

So the three newscameramen went, and Lambert was the Age photographer and there was another couple of seats left, and he said \u2018Ah, no no no I\u2019m right.\u00a0 We\u2019ll wait.\u2019<\/p>\n

So off we go out again, do a circle, film it, lovely.\u00a0 Middle of nowhere this tiny little bloody platform.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Captured from the footage by Modris Pilens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Got enough?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Yeah, we\u2019ve got enough.\u2019<\/p>\n

So we\u2019re just going back and as we\u2019re going back I said \u2018Oh wait a minute, I\u2019ve got another roll of film in my bell.\u2019\u00a0 So I pull another roll of film out and just run it through a little bit.<\/p>\n

And as we\u2019re coming in to land, I\u2019m approaching the rig and you can see \u2013 this is a 10 mil wide lens \u2013 and I\u2019m just out there holding the camera with a 10 mil lens.\u00a0 And all those guys standing down there waiting for us to get there so they can hop in and be gone to have lunch.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Captured from the footage by Modris Pilens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

JF:\u00a0 They\u2019re just standing on the rig?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 They\u2019re just standing on the top of the rig.\u00a0 On the platform.\u00a0 As we come down, I take a nice little shot.\u00a0 Next thing, WHOOMPH.\u00a0 And the helicopter starts jumping up and down.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 What\u2019s happened?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 As it\u2019s jumping up and down, it\u2019s twisted into a sideway and it\u2019s going towards the edge of the platform.\u00a0 So I thought \u2018Fine, the helicopter\u2019s going to fall in the bloody drink.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In the meantime, I had the camera going and as soon as I took the trigger off for the Bell, next time I pressed the trigger it wouldn\u2019t work.\u00a0 Because the shake twisted the lens, and the lens on the 10 mil is a very very tiny pinpoint at the back.\u00a0 So I just straightened that and filmed it.<\/p>\n

The helicopter just keeps going whoomph, whoomph, whoomph and falling.\u00a0 I said \u2018okay, fine.\u00a0 As it goes over the edge I shall depart company, stay on the platform, and the helicpoter\u2019s going to go down.\u2019<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So you\u2019re going to jump out?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 I\u2019m going to jump out.\u00a0 Because there\u2019s no door on it, I\u2019m right at the edge you see.\u00a0\u00a0 The other three guys were sitting next to me, they were going to go down with the helicopter.\u00a0 As I\u2019m trying to get out, the pilot says \u2018Don\u2019t move, don\u2019t move, you\u2019re alright.\u00a0 Don\u2019t move because the blades still going.\u2019<\/p>\n

What I didn\u2019t realise was that as I was climbing into the helicopter I put my gadget bag behind the chair, and having previous experience having dropped things out of helicopters, put my foot in the leather of the gadget bag, so that if I was going to jump I would have been still attached to the helicopter by the leather strap.\u00a0 Anyway.\u00a0 We waited til the helicopter finished jumping \u2013 didn\u2019t go that far.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Captured from the footage by Modris Pilens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What had happened was, as the helicopter came to land, tail rotor washes broke or something like that.\u00a0 By losing the tail rotor, which sort of fell sideways \u2013 Alan Lambert\u2019s got a picture of me sitting there, filming with this helicopter tail rotor half twisted \u2013 we hit the deck.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As we hit the deck the helicopter was twisting, and in a twisting way, punctured the bag.\u00a0 So instead of being straight all of a sudden it was on the edge.\u00a0 And as it was on the edge the blade hit the platform, separated the steel leading edge from the plastic blade, and the steel leading edge was going round like a whip (makes whip noises).\u00a0 That\u2019s what did the damage.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cut the PR guy \u2013 four cuts through his stomach.\u00a0 One guy lost his head, one guy lost his arm, there was another guy cut in half and dropped into the drink, swimming down there with all the guts spilled out.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Captured from the footage by Modris Pilens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So I came out, all of a sudden realising that my camera is not right.\u00a0 So I got the lens back and started filming what was happening on the platform.\u00a0 Next thing we knew that um, a cook came up to look for \u2018choice joint\u2019 as we say \u2013 the cook is the first aid guy.\u00a0 So he comes up and starts helping somebody and helping somebody else.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 So you\u2019ve got people lying on the rig<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 I\u2019ve got people scattered all over the place, with guts cut to pieces.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got pictures of a dead body floating in the drink, I\u2019ve got blokes with arms cut off.\u00a0 All this gruesome footage in black and white.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 How do you manage in your mind, to be shooting that\u2026 how do you cope with that?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 You don\u2019t.\u00a0 You don\u2019t cope.\u00a0 You just shoot, doesn\u2019t matter to you.\u00a0 If it smells you in trouble.\u00a0 If it doesn\u2019t smell it doesn\u2019t exist.\u00a0 Once the camera comes up, you\u2019re not there.\u00a0 You\u2019re only recording.\u00a0 There\u2019s no feeling of disaster.\u00a0 The only feeling is \u2018Can I get that, did I get that?\u2019\u00a0 Once you sit down, put the camera down, then you start thinking \u2018Ohhhhhhhh shit.\u2019\u00a0 Put up the camera and it\u2019s a defence. \u00a0Doesn\u2019t happen to you.<\/p>\n

So anyway, filmed all that.\u00a0 There\u2019s Alan Lambert lying down there saying \u2018Hey Morrie, I\u2019ve got the wrong lens on.\u2019\u00a0 I said \u2018Don\u2019t worry Alan, I\u2019ll cover for you\u2019 and I got this black Leica that I used to cover in my pocket.\u00a0 So I shot about 3 rolls of 35 mm.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Captured from the footage by Modris Pilens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

JF:\u00a0 So you would take stills<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 And movies, yeah.\u00a0 Just stills for myself<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 With little offcuts of 16mm film.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah, yeah.\u00a0 Cheaper than 35.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Yeah!<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 I was carrying 35mm all the time but this was cheaper for myself. \u00a0The 35mm I used to give it to the Age, you get 5 pounds for it.\u00a0 The highest paid was the bloody oil rig when they got 3 editions of my photographs for their front page.\u00a0 I got $100.\u00a0 Big deal, you know.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Age Photos by Modris Pilens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yep.\u00a0 And the doctor arrived and we photographed that, and I thought wait a minute.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got the film now how the bloody hell am I going to get rid of it?\u00a0 I know!\u00a0 So I went up to the doctor.\u00a0 Before I did, the film I got of landing and going around the corner, put it in my back pocket.\u00a0 One hundred feet of film.\u00a0 The rest of it that I shot, I package up to send back to channel 10.\u00a0 Got to be careful you know, you never know what\u2019s going to happen.\u00a0 Take chances, yeah.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Captured from the footage by Modris Pilens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So I\u2019m talking to the doctor, and he\u2019s going back with the first lot in a helicopter which lands on a barge down below.\u00a0 I said \u2018Look doctor, you\u2019ve got a job, I\u2019ve got a job.\u00a0 I give blood and what have you.\u00a0 Could you do me a favour.\u00a0 Could you give this to the girl at the airport and ask her to ring channel 10 to hire a plane to bring it to Melbourne?\u2019 \u00a0He said \u2018oh yeah, I can do that.\u2019<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Which roll is this?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 This is the second roll.\u00a0 This is aftermath.\u00a0 The roll with all the first ones where we come around the corner, that\u2019s in my pocket.\u00a0 But a repeat of that is in the packet that goes to Melbourne.\u00a0 Which means that \u2013 this is midday \u2013 they\u2019d have it for the 6 o\u2019clock news no problem.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Why did you want to split the films?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Because I want to make sure that it\u2019s not going to be stolen, not going to disappear.\u00a0 It\u2019s got to be in my pocket in case anybody wants evidence of it.\u00a0 If that film disappears \u2013 I\u2019m not SURE that he\u2019s going to give it to her.\u00a0 I\u2019m not SURE that she\u2019s going to give it to somebody.\u00a0 At least what I\u2019ve got in the pocket, they get tomorrow.<\/p>\n

So I get the doctor and he takes the film and off he goes.\u00a0 Next to me is the channel 9 reporter, who was on the platform but before the helicopter landed he went down, and was on the stairs with his head just above the platform.\u00a0 So he didn\u2019t get hurt.\u00a0 That\u2019s John Hart.<\/p>\n

So John Hart\u2019s next to me and he says \u2018We couldn\u2019t send our film back.\u2019\u00a0 So he gets Lloyd Coulson\u2019s film \u2013 in the meantime Lloyd Coulson hasn\u2019t shot a single foot of what was going on, because he was more interested to console the people.\u00a0 And talk to them and comfort them.\u00a0 And he\u2019s just holding a camera and walking around and talking Alan Lambert.\u00a0 And Alan Lambert gives him his big camera and says \u2018Look, I had the wrong lens in but I got a shot of it coming down and I had the wrong lens.\u2019<\/p>\n

And I said \u2018look mate, I told you I\u2019d cover it for you.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got two rolls of 35 mm packets going to the Age.\u2019<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Is Lambert hurt?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Oh yeah, Lambert\u2019s got his leg chopped off.\u00a0 And he\u2019s just lying down there.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I sent the stills to the Age and the movies to channel 10.\u00a0 So he leaves it to the airport receptionist.\u00a0 The receptionist rings channel 10.\u00a0 Janet Pope\u2019s on the phone.\u00a0 Do you remember Janet Pope or had she gone by then?<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 No, she\u2019d gone by then.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Janet says \u201cHa, he doesn\u2019t want to come back does he?\u00a0 Well, if he\u2019s too lazy to come back when he should come back he can bring his own film back.\u2019\u00a0 And Poop, she\u2019s gone.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 She\u2019s in the Melbourne office?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Melbourne office in the front room answering the telephone.\u00a0 She\u2019s supposed to be news editor secretary.\u00a0 And she just knocked back a world shattering bloody story!\u00a0 Anyway, another couple of hours later when they figured out that there was something going on, and Morrie\u2019s been trying to send film back \u2013 oh yeah, that\u2019s right.\u00a0 She mentioned it to Ian MacFarlane when he came back from lunch, and by that time they knew something was going on but they didn\u2019t know what it was.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 You\u2019re still stuck on the rig?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 I\u2019m still on the rig yeah.\u00a0 I can\u2019t get off.\u00a0 So they ring up Sale, get the receptionist. \u00a0\u2018Oh yes, get it to the plane, bring it down here straight away, we\u2019ll pay for it.\u2019\u00a0 And the girl was just about to give it to the pilot, and the pilot\u2019s in the bloody little plane trying to take off, and up comes screaming a motor car saying \u2018Hold it, you can\u2019t do that!\u00a0 We want that film!\u2019\u00a0 Esso people!<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the ABC people on the rig got onto the assistant PR \u2013 (whinging tone) \u2018Yeah, but Morrie\u2019s got his film off here \u2013 why can\u2019t I send MINE off?\u00a0\u00a0 Why can\u2019t I do this?\u2019<\/p>\n

Of course they knew that I\u2019d got the film out, so they stopped the bloody plane, take the film off. .. The receptionist rings back channel 10 and says \u2018Oh, the gas people got it.\u00a0 You know.\u2019\u00a0 Because they own the bloody place.\u00a0 Whatever they say goes because they hire and fire everybody.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 They own the airport?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 Anyway.\u00a0 They had quite a bloody trouble getting the film.\u00a0 So finally they legally threaten them and what have you, and they got the film.\u00a0 Wait a minute, that\u2019s wrong.\u00a0 ABC guy was the one that cried about his film \u2013 that\u2019s another incident in the story.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 The ABC guy is still on the rig?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 We\u2019re all on the rig.\u00a0 Except Bill Hart who was the ABC cameraman, took one look at it and spewed his guts out.\u00a0 He went in the corner and collapsed there. \u00a0\u00a0He was one of the casualties.\u00a0 And his assistant came up to me and said \u2018Hey Morrie, how do I operate this?\u2019\u00a0 He\u2019s got an Ariflex.<\/p>\n

I said \u2018No problem mate.\u2019\u00a0 I put it on 10 mil lens for him, put it on the right aperture, and said \u2018All you\u2019ve got to do is hold it steady and press this trigger.\u2019<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t remember his name but he was a sound guy and everybody at ABC was looking down on him \u2013 he was somebody that they kick around a bit, you know.\u00a0 So he shot a hundred feet of film, wrapped it up and that was give to the journalist who complained he\u2019d missed out on it, and Geoff Bell comes up to me afterwards and says \u2018Morrie, I only took 100 feet of film.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t got any film.\u2019<\/p>\n

This was of coming out in the helicopter after the crash.\u00a0 I said \u2018Help yourself\u2019\u00a0 So he helped himself to my bloody film.\u00a0 He filmed it, ABC filmed it.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 What do you mean, helped himself to your film?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 He said he hasn\u2019t got any film and I said \u2018Help yourself, my film\u2019s yours.\u2019\u00a0 So I gave him footage to use because I had a whole bagful of film and he\u2019s arrived with only a hundred feet of film.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Right<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 All he had was what he was doing on the rig \u2026<\/p>\n

So Geoff got film for channel 7, this sound assistant got film for ABC, I got film for 10, 9 didn\u2019t get any bloody film because Lloyd Coulson was an ambulance officer.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t bear to see this, he\u2019d rather talk to people and be nice to them.\u00a0 It\u2019s just the way it goes.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Right, so Lloyd\u2019s instinct was to care for the people.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 yeah.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Your instinct is\u2026<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Was recording.\u00a0 If I\u2019m gone, still there.\u00a0 Recorded.\u00a0 Anyway.\u00a0 So we were sitting and waiting.\u00a0 We can\u2019t get off the rig, we can\u2019t talk to anybody, we can\u2019t ring anybody.\u00a0 Just sitting \u2013 I couldn\u2019t give a damn, my film would be on air in an hour or so, you know.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Captured from the footage by Modris Pilens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By this time it\u2019s starting to get dark.\u00a0 Crash boat arrived to take us all back to Lakes Entrance.\u00a0 And we\u2019re all in the cabin of the crash boat, and somebody locks the door.\u00a0 And I said to Geoff Bell \u2018Hey hey \u2013 what are they locking the door for?\u2019<\/p>\n

And he says \u2018Hey wait a minute \u2013 I don\u2019t think they want to let us out.\u2019<\/p>\n

So I said \u2018okay\u2019, and we just have a little look around.\u00a0 And behind the chimney is emergency steps going up with a little trap door.\u00a0 So Geoff and I got up there and out the trap door, and we\u2019re standing behind the chimney, waiting for the boat.\u00a0 So we\u2019re not locked up with the rest of the plebs that were on the rig \u2013 they\u2019re all locked up.<\/p>\n

As we come to Lakes Entrance jetty, there\u2019s people standing there waiting already for us.\u00a0 So I jumped and Geoff jumped after me.\u00a0 And I\u2019m running like buggery because I know where the telephone is.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0And they say \u2018Hold him, hold him, bring him back, don\u2019t let him go, hold him, hold him.\u2019<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m just going hell for bloody leather!\u00a0 I got to the booth, opened up the booth, get the exchange \u2013 there\u2019s a girl there.\u00a0 I said \u2018What\u2019s your name?\u2019\u00a0 Then I said \u2018Look, now that I know who you are I\u2019d like to ask a question.\u00a0 The question is, can you be trusted not to interrupt this telephone conversation that I\u2019m going to have with my office?\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter what happens, who happens, I\u2019m not finished til I tell you.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Oh yeah, that\u2019ll be alright.\u2019<\/p>\n

So we got onto channel 10.\u00a0 By that time we got the film.\u00a0 And they\u2019re already editing and it was going to *go on late news.\u00a0 So I just dictated over the phone what had happened\u2026 Barry Woodhouse was still there, waiting for it to happen.\u00a0 He had rang Ruth earlier and said \u2018there\u2019s been an accident in the oil rig but Morrie is alright \u2013 we think \u2013 because his film\u2019s coming in!\u2019\u00a0 (laughter)<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Ruth is your wife?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 So that\u2019s the oil rig.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 How did you cope?\u00a0 You see those horrific things.. these days, cameramen would have counselling, that kind of thing.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 What\u2019s that?<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Well you tell me.<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 What\u2019s bloody counselling?\u00a0 You don\u2019t have that.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have it.\u00a0 If you are cameraman you don\u2019t have any bloody counselling.\u00a0 You can\u2019t have counselling because you can\u2019t get emotionally involved in what you do.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to record things.<\/p>\n

You know they had the big American SES saying \u2018Give us a wooden platform in space, we\u2019ll provide you with pictures.\u2019\u00a0 That about wraps it up.\u00a0 That\u2019s what you are.\u00a0 You are a recorder.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got the privilege of showing exactly how it happens.\u00a0 If you\u2019re lucky.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 I want to ask you.\u00a0 Obviously for any cameraman, having a look at what went on on the rig would be as bad as it gets.\u00a0 I guess you knew some of the people who were killed there?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Oh yes, I knew them not very well, but I knew Alan Lambert, I was friendly on the road with him, you know.\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, I knew a few of the people that were there, yeah.\u00a0 But it\u2019s still the fact that a camera is some sort of a protective shield that it doesn\u2019t matter to you.\u00a0 If there\u2019s a shooting on, it doesn\u2019t matter to you because it doesn\u2019t concern you – all you want is a picture.\u00a0 You know. \u00a0But sometimes you don\u2019t get away with things like that.<\/p>\n

JF:\u00a0 Were any changes made as far as legislation was concerned?<\/p>\n

MP:\u00a0 Oh yes, boy were there changes made.\u00a0 There\u2019s restrictions on where you can stand, restrictions how you can land, restrictions who can service helicopters instead of milk machine mechanics.\u00a0 It was carrying on for quite a while.\u00a0 They tightened things up.\u00a0 So it has made a difference, yeah.\u00a0 A lot of difference.<\/p>\n

Link to Accident Investigation Report Barracouta Platform 22-March-1968<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is part of an interview Series for the National Film and Sound Archive Aural History Programme by John Fife. My name is John Fife (JF) and I have with me Morrie Pilens (MP). MP:\u00a0 Sometimes yes, sometimes no.\u00a0 Have we spoken about the helicopter crash yet? JF:\u00a0 No, we want to get to there … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Bass Straight Helicopter Crash 22-March-1968”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":167,"menu_order":11,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-225","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":392,"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/225\/revisions\/392"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pilens.com.au\/modris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}