NSW: Pilot an adventurer who followed the rules, says dad

AAP General News (Australia)
12-07-2006
NSW: Pilot an adventurer who followed the rules, says dad

By Vincent Morello

SYDNEY, Dec 7 AAP - Helicopter pilot Kirk Palfrey was an adventurer, but when it came
to flying he stuck to the rules, his father says.

Ralph Palfrey says pilot error would have played no part in the crash which killed
his son in Fiji on Tuesday.

Kirk Palfrey, 36, from Ingleburn in Sydney, is presumed dead after his commercial helicopter
crashed into the ocean shortly after takeoff from Nadi.

A witness says the chopper exploded before plunging into the sea.

Nobody else was on board.

Ralph Palfrey and his wife Vera, who will travel to Fiji this week, have given up hope
their son may have survived the crash.

He says Kirk had a pilot instructor's licence and had been flying for at least 15 years.

"He liked jumping out of aircraft with parachutes, hot-air ballooning and all the things
that had a bit of a risk element to them.

"But when it came to his flying he was very strict.

"He had his rules and he stuck by them. He was that type of boy - he was very fastidious
with things he'd done."

Mr Palfrey said the crash must have been caused by mechanical failure.

"He would not have stood a chance if it exploded like they said," he said.

"But he knows helicopters backwards and forwards.

"It would not have been a pilot error - definitely not."

Kirk became a pilot 15 years ago, flying commercial helicopters and ferrying people
to and from destinations on Australia's east coast.

He answered a newspaper ad seeking pilots to fly around the Fiji islands and left about
12 months ago for a two-year contract, Mr Palfrey said.

It was his first job outside Australia.

"He was a bit of an adventurer really - I suppose that's the best way to put it," Mr
Palfrey said.

He said he has been in constant contact with Ian Simpson, the owner of Island Hoppers,
for which Kirk worked as a pilot ferrying people between islands.

He said divers had so far found no trace of the main part of the helicopter or his son's body.

However pilot earphones, an identity card and some debris had been recovered, the Fiji
Times Online reported.

Mr Palfrey recalled Kirk, the youngest of two sons, training to be a pilot.

"When he said he was going to fly helicopters we laughed because we knew it was expensive
to go and have lessons.

"But he went to a job in a local factory and worked day and night and on weekends," he said.

"When he had time off he went and had his lessons."

But flying was not Kirk's first adventure, his father said.

As a teenager, he played rugby league locally for the Ingleburn Bulldogs and earned
a chance at the age of 19 to play in Wellington in New Zealand.

Soon after he suffered a leg injury and returned home to pursue a career as a pilot.

"He knew we didn't like him playing the game because we told him he'd get a bad injury
and he did - against his father's best wishes," Mr Palfrey said.

AAP vpm/klw/drp/sp/br

KEYWORD: FIJI CHOPPER DAYLEAD

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