Australia’s maritime security agency says a 28-person tourist boat appeared to have crashed into a rock wall in Horizontal Falls.
Key points:
- Emergency services were called in to rescue 28 passengers and crew after a tourist boat crashed on Friday morning.
- Maritime security personnel have completed their on-site investigation at Horizontal Falls
- The tourist company could resume operations in a few weeks
The Falls Express, owned and operated by Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures, crashed shortly after 7 a.m. Friday.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service spent most of Friday evacuating patients from the remote tourist attraction, 100km north of Derby.
Nine passengers remained in Royal Perth Hospital in stable condition on Tuesday morning.
The director of national operations for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, Greg Witherall, said two inspectors had been at the remote site since Sunday afternoon.
AMSA says the ship appeared to have crashed into a rock wall, contrary to initial reports that it had capsized.
Early investigations also confirmed that no passengers had been thrown into the water.
Witherall said inspectors would return to Perth to continue gathering testimony and information before handing over the findings to a specialized investigation team.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority is investigating the ship’s crash on Friday. (ABC News: Mark Moore)
“I would anticipate that in the next seven or ten days we should have a pretty good idea of what really happened and the events that took place that day,” he said.
Witherall said the company could resume operations if inspectors consider it safe to do so once the special investigation team takes over.
The security authority had issued a direct warning to prevent the operator from using any other boat to visit the tourist attraction pending the outcome of the investigation.
“These warnings will be lifted once we have completed our preliminary investigation to ensure that there are no ongoing risks,” he said.
“They certainly won’t work unless all the risks or anything we’ve identified have been rectified.”
Sally Edmonds, Natalie Saunders and Rachel Climpson were among the rescuers who helped people after the crash. (ABC Kimberley: Hinako Shiraishi)
A huge task for lifeguards
Royal Flying Doctor Service emergency workers who were the first on the scene said the distance from the location and the lack of mobile reception add to the difficult task of rescuing patients.
The service set up a temporary sorting area at the nearby Koolan Island iron mine after deploying six planes, six doctors and six flight nurses to deal with the emergency.
Royal Flying Doctor Service doctor Sally Edmonds said she had not seen any “challenge” such as the Horizontal Falls crash in her 20-year career.
“I’ve seen a lot of different injuries and illnesses with my time at the Royal Flying Doctor Service, but I’ve never been on a remote bridge in the water with more than 10 people injured, that’s really extraordinary,” he said.
Dr. Edmonds said there were people on the boat and on the pontoon when he arrived.
“We saw that there were at least 15 people who [were] you will need medical attention, a lot of work has already been done to heal the wounds, stop the bleeding and start some pain relief, ”he said.
Rescue crews were called to Horizontal Falls Friday morning. (ABC News: Natalie Jones)
Flight nurse Natalie Saunders said there were “a lot of people everywhere.”
“They had major injuries, which we probably didn’t expect,” Saunders said.
“We were expecting a lot of fractures, but not to the point where people were injured.”
He said the lack of mobile reception with only a satellite phone was a barrier to the rescue.
“We were unable to communicate with our team on the ground on Koolan Island or the Jandakot base, which made things difficult,” Saunders said.
“That was like one of those scenarios … a ship crashed in a remote place, you have a nurse, a retired GP and a gastroenterologist and a pathologist to help you: what would you do? Go!”
The injured passengers were taken to Broome after the crash. (ABC News)
Investigations continue
Although Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures has declined to provide any additional details of the crash, the company does offer refunds or reservations to any customer affected by the suspension of operations.
Witherall said the authority would be worthwhile with statewide enforcement agencies to rebuild what happened before Friday’s crash.
“In the coming days we will be looking to test the ship’s mechanical systems to determine if they played a role in last Friday’s crash,” he said.
He said the authority will also examine the weather conditions of the day and investigate the background of the personnel involved in the incident as part of the investigation.
Posted 5 hours, 5 hours ago, Tuesday, May 31, 2022 at 4:40 AM, last updated 2 hours, 2 hours ago, Tuesday, May 31, 2022 at 7:34 AM