TRIBUTES are flowing for the three environmentalists who had joined the protest against a local coal mine at Breeza, but never made it home after their chopper crashed near Cessnock.
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Millionaire businessman-turned-landscape photographer Richard Green, 74, his graphic artist wife Carolyn, 71, and their friend and filmmaker John Davis, 72, were killed on their way back to Sydney from the anti-mining festival in Breeza on Saturday.
The wreckage of Mr Green’s modified EC135 helicopter was discovered on Monday night in rough, mountainous terrain in the Hunter Valley.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said three investigators were deployed to the rugged crash site yesterday to search for clues as to how the helicopter crashed.
Superintendent Craig Jackson, from Central Hunter police, said they expected to retrieve the three bodies yesterday and forensically examine the crash site.
“The site is accessible but obviously we have to take certain equipment in there to get our job done. It is proving a challenge,” he said.
Former independent MP Tony Windsor, who spoke at the Breeza event on Saturday and met all three crash victims, said the trio made a dramatic exit in the eye-catching helicopter, performing a circuit around the crowd before flying off.
Mr Davis, a former Greens candidate for Davidson, interviewed Mr Windsor on Saturday afternoon about political lobbying and mining, possibly for a documentary he was making with Mr and Mrs Green on the environmental damage wrought by coal mines.
“I had a long conversation with John and probably did the last interview John ever did,” said Mr Windsor.
“He wanted to have a yarn on a few things, mostly the influence of paid lobbyists in Canberra, particularly in the mining sector. He gave me his card and I’d put it on the beside table.”
He said the three victims were keen environmentalists with a passion for showing the natural beauty of Australian landscapes.
“About 800 people came to that event over the weekend; people travelled from near and far and the three of them really represented that body of people,” Mr Windsor said.
“They had come to learn about this magnificent piece of country. They went out of their way to do that, so it’s tragic to think [the crash] happened on the back of their concerns for other people.”
Several Greens members, including Jeremy Buckingham and Christine Milne, also issued tributes after hearing the news.
“Their advocacy for nature, a lasting contribution,” Ms Milne said on Twitter.
Yesterday, it was revealed that Mr Green had his helicopter licence suspended for six months in 2013.
Mr Green had four incidents in one year in which he almost collided with other aircraft due to his unnecessary manoeuvres, and one incident in which he struck powerlines 105 metres from the point of take-off, causing the powerline to tear off part of his helicopter.
