'WE WONT GIVE UP'
THE son of a missing Vietnam War veteran is refusing to give up hope after joining the gruelling search for his 72-year-old father near Tyalgum.
Tim Sinnott said his father, Ian, was an experienced pilot and the search in 100sq km of dense bushland would resume this morning.
Ian Sinnott, a commercial “freight” pilot with 22,000 hours flying time, took off from Bob Whittle Memorial Airfield, Murwillumbah, in his recently purchased green ultralight plane about 10am on Monday.
It is a trip the Elanora man has enjoyed many times, only this week he did not return.
The alarm was raised early Monday afternoon when a friend became concerned and contacted authorities.
“I don’t know what has happened to him and I just don’t want to speculate (what has happened to him),” Tim Sinnott said. “It’s too upsetting to speculate.
“It’s been hard enough on my mum and myself and my brother.
“The best thing we can do is get local people aware. The more eyes on the ground and in the air, the better.”
Friends said Ian Sinnott, a father of two and grandfather of three, had owned the ultralight for a matter of weeks.
He flew the plane, nicknamed the “grasshopper” due to it’s bright green paint job, from Tasmania to northern NSW about two weeks ago.
Other Murwillumbah aircraft enthusiasts said Mr Sinnott had at least one light plane damaged during Cyclone Debbie. He was able to buy a new one since then.
John Custance, who served alongside Mr Sinnott in Vietnam, said it was hard to believe his friend could have made a mistake in the air.
“We are in the blind like everybody else,” he said of Mr Sinnott’s disappearance. “Something must have gone wrong somewhere.”
He said if anyone could survive a plane crash it was Ian Sinnott.
“He’s a (prostate) cancer survivor. A lovely man.”
Mr Custance said in Vietnam, pilots carried out tasks from reconnaissance to transportation and carrying commanding officers of infantry regiments during combat.
After serving 20 years in the Army, Mr Sinnott worked as a commercial pilot, and still worked three days a week, Mr Custance said.
A friend of Mr Sinnott’s, who referred to herself only as ‘Johnnie’, choked back tears as she recounted the 72year-old’s love of flying.
“Every time he got in an aircraft he had a grin from ear to ear,” she said.
“He did take his wife flying Sunday week ago. This is just a real tragedy.
“He is a great aviator and that is certainly his passion.”
She said Mr Sinnott’s disappearance was yet another hit to the local flying community that had been in disarray since Cyclone Debbie.
“Cyclone Debbie wiped out all our planes, then not to know where Ian is ...
“If we had planes we would have certainly gone out (searching for him) but we haven’t. They’re all under repair or irreplaceable at the moment.”
Eight helicopters kept watch over a large search zone 15km west of Murwillumbah yesterday.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority co-ordinated rescue aircraft, while police dispersed ground parties, including officers on horseback to scour dense bushland.
An AMSA spokesman said the search was still considered a “rescue” mission with authorities still hopeful of finding Mr Sinnott alive.
Police said the search was like looking for a “needle in a haystack” due to the plane’s bright green colour and the denseness of the bushland.
The search was suspended late yesterday afternoon due to darkness and thick fog, but is expected to resume at first light today.
I DON’T KNOW WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO HIM AND I JUST DON’T WANT TO SPECULATE. IT’S TOO UPSETTING TO SPECULATE. TIM SINNOTT