Watching three Royal Australian Navy Sea King helicopters make their final flight over Canberra yesterday was an emotional experience for retired navy captain Vic Battese.
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It is 32 years since he and his co-pilot nearly died after having to ditch one of the ''Mack trucks of the skies'' while trying to land on HMAS Melbourne.
''We were coming in to land when there was a God-awful noise,'' he said. ''I pulled away from the ship [Australia's last aircraft carrier] just as the drive shaft for the tail rotor failed. We hit the water and the helicopter rolled over. We ended up inverted and shrapnel from the main rotor hit the ship.''
Mr Battese said the next few minutes were hellish.
''We [he and the co-pilot] were tangled up with each other.''
By the time they had freed themselves he was beginning to black out from a lack of oxygen.
The two men were winched to safety by another Sea King that had already been in the air, making him one of the few people who has been both rescued by and performed rescues from, the Sea King.
He would not have missed yesterday's flyby, which also took in Sydney and Nowra, for the world.
''As I watched today I saw they were flying a nice formation. The young guys were doing a good job. The crews have kept the Sea Kings flying for 35 years and they are still looking good.''
Mr Battese said that while the last flight of the Sea King marked a loss of his youth it had also reminded him how lucky he had been to have wonderful times flying with the navy.
The unit with which he had flown the Sea Kings, 817 Squadron, will be decommissioned in a special ceremony at HMAS Albatross at Shoalhaven this morning. The Sea Kings have served Australia in peace and war, making a major contribution during the 1994 bushfires, the 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race rescues, the 2001 floods and this year's Queensland floods.
