Most will have heard of the light aircraft crash at Darwin airport a few days ago. None of us would have realised that the crash took one of our own.

I received the following a short time ago. Vale, Shane. Another of our Chippy brothers taken far too soon. May you have fair skies and a following sea in your journey.............



It is with sadness that I inform you that my brother Shane Whitbread was killed in a plane crash at Darwin Airport on Monday 22 March 2010 at approx 1030 hrs (NT time).

Shane completed 21 years in the navy as a Shipwright (Chief Chippy). later in his career he became a Patrol Boat Charge in Darwin. He loved the Territory and made it his home after the Navy.

He then became a Pilot and was working for Air North.

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2010/0 ... tnews.html

We will all miss him

Yours sincerely

Greg Whitbread

Property Manager
Sydney Grammar School
Ph. 02-93325831
Mob. 0417285904
Fax. 02-93315164

Shane was part of the January 1974 Intake at Nirimba.

Funeral details will be posted as they come to hand.

_________________

Chris O'Keefe
R43136
Ex WO Chippy
19th MOBI Intake
July 65 to July 85
HMAS Nirimba X 4 -Penguin-Sydney-Queenborough - Creswell - Moreton - Stalwart - Platypus - Coonawarra Reconstruction Team 76 - Platypus - Hobart - Cerberus - FHQ - Coonawarra.

Anyone can be ordinary. Shipwrights choose to be extraordinary!

VALE Shane, rest on your oars, may you rest in peace...

......
Shane Whitbread (who would have turned 50 yesterday) and wife Cherie

As if God doesn't have enough Chippies up there already...

_________________

Rick Pengilly
WEBMASTER
Ex-CPOMTH3
R42630
13th MOBI Intake
July'62 to July'74
HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Melbourne - HMAS Cerberus - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Lonsdale - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Brisbane

Good grief, this is terrible news. I worked with both Shane and his brother Greg.
I am not sure which of the brothers it was but one of them was serving in HMAS Wollongong when it ran aground of Gabo Island in 1985 and was instrumental in saving the ship.
A sad day.
Steve

_________________
Steve Wilson
S116012
WOMTP5
4th Muppet Intake
January 1974-January 1997
Perth, Tobruk, Launceston, Bendigo, Sydney, Melbourne. Nirimba, Penguin, Navy Office, MHQ, Naval Support Command, Somalia.

My National News channel only reported that two military personnel had been killed in an incident near Darwin Airport.

Footage only showed an aileron or tail section that really didn't identify anything to the average person.

At face value, I assumed they were current RAAF personnel.

Sad to hear that it was one of own.

RIP Shane

_________________
Brian Carney
R43371
Ex-WOMTP5
22nd Mobi Intake
Jan 67 - Jan 89
RANATE, Sydney, Swan, Creswell, Stalwart (FMU), Cerberus, Derwent, Nirimba, Parramatta, Nirimba, FHQ (FMMO).