Plan lifts beach safety

25.01.2010

GOLD Coast beach-goers should feel
safer after a new plan is launched today.
Marine Watch will be launched at
Gold Coast Airport.
It follows a two-week trial of the
Seeker 2 light aircraft - a cross between
a helicopter and light plane.
These planes fly regular air patrols
above the foreshores of the
Gold Coast to watch for sharks and
rips.
Marine Watch director and chief
pilot Glenn Leigh-Smith said it made
sense to use the Hervey Bay-made
Seeker because it operated at about
one-third of the cost of a helicopter.
"It's Australian designed, it's
Queensland made and it's economical,"
Mr Leigh-Smith said.
"(The trial) went very well. The re-
ports have gone to council and we're
hoping to have an answer before the
end of October."
His proposal to the Gold Coast
council will see the planes fitted with
gyro-stabilised camera equipment
to provide year-round surveillance
and intelligence to the city's emergency
services, including lifeguards,
rural fire services and water police.
Seabird's Francois van Teijlingen
said the $326,000 Seeker was designed
by Hervey Bay aircraft pioneer
Don Adams and made from
scratch by a small crew at Seabird's
factory at Hervey Bay Airport.
"The aircraft was designed to fill
the gap between helicopter operations,
which are expensive, and
fixed-wing operations, which are a
bit cheaper," Mr van Teijlingen said.
Twenty-one Seekers are in operaend
tion globally including six in Jordan
and four in Iraq.