The Crash of MMA Flight 1750 A Tribute to Kay Aubrey – STW News Secretary By Terry Spence – Former STW Channel 9 News Director Among the parties getting underway on New Year’s Eve 1968 in Perth there was one in which were gathered a number of staff from the STW Channel 9 newsroom. As always on this last day of the year, the party was expected to go on at least until midnight when the New Year would be welcomed in. There was, though, already a shadow cast over the evening with the knowledge that the next day would bring more details of a tragedy that had occurred earlier in the...

    STW Channel 9 in Perth, Western Australia, encountered a fatal helicopter crash on Monday 9th December 1985, at Spencers Brook, near Clackline, in the wheat belt region. The pilot John Little was killed instantly, when the main rotor blade came through the windscreen. Mr Little (aged 43), a former farmer, was the chief pilot for West Coast Helicopters, as well as a senior officer with the Air Training Corps in WA.     The passengers in the Bell Jet Ranger helicopter at the time of the accident were Keith Woodland and Lance Bennett. Television producer...

Neville Wynne painting a set in the TVW workshop     TVW Channel 7’s work shop manager Neville Wynne was not only involved in designing and building sets for television productions, but also responsible for building many of the floats for Seven’s first Christmas Pageant in 1972. The Gulliver’s Travels Float     In addition, Neville spent many hours restoring exhibits for TVW’s museum, before it was dispersed during the rein of Robert Holmes à Court. A Tiger Moth was found abandoned at Jandakot with a bee hive in it, which...

    Tragically a Channel Seven Perth videotape operator and commercial pilot, Ken Mosedale, was killed at 10.10pm on Monday 4 September 2000. Ken was piloting a Beechcraft King Air 200 aircraft taking seven workers to the Sons of Gwalia mining operation at Leonora. The flight, which became known as the ‘Ghost Flight’, never arrived, crashing 65km south east of Burketown in Queensland.     Air Crash Investigators determined that some twenty minutes into the flight it was likely that the cabin depressurised, causing the pilot and passengers...

    In the 1970s, brothers Keith and Chris Woodland joined STW9. They created the elephant character Flapper, the cat Brindley and Doctor Featherweather. Flappers Super Heroes 1980 Clash of The Creatures 1983 Jenny Dunstan, Chris Woodland and Flapper in STW9 Goodnight segments 1985     They were involved in making family and childrens programs for STW 9 for a number of years with many shows including Flappers Super Heroes, Clash of the Creatures, Flappers factory, Perth’s Young Entertainers, various Appealathons and many others. ...

Perth’s radio industry is mourning the loss of a familiar voice and big personality, the former 6KY, 6IX, 6PR, 6PM and 92.9 announcer known as Jim Beam, who passed away, aged 69. Errol Battersby (aka Jim Beam) He worked at 5KA Adelaide during the late 1960s, using his real name Errol Battersby on air. He also worked under the name ‘Big Red’. John Cranfield has kindly advised that on moving to Western Australia, Errol was heard broadcasting from 6PR, just prior to the Gentle on Your Mind Days in the early seventies. At one stage at 6PR he was known on air as Earl Baxter. ...

    Nickel Queen was an Australian comedy film released in 1971 starring Googie Withers and directed by her husband John McCallum. The story was loosely based on the Poseidon bubble, a nickel boom in Western Australia in the late 1960s, and tells of an outback pub owner who stakes a claim and finds herself an overnight millionaire.     Finance was raised from a Perth syndicate, which included TVW Channel Seven and Fauna Productions in Sydney, with the credits showing that the movie was made by Woomera Productions. A number of TVW staff are in the Parmelia Hotel...

        It is with great sadness we report the passing of the Reverend John Hudson on Thursday 17th of January, for people are unanimous in saying that John was one of the nicest, kindest and caring people you could ever wish to meet as well as a talented current affairs and television news journalist. A career that involved speaking publicly from not only the pulpit, but to a much wider audience Statewide over the airwaves.     John’s funeral was held at Karrakatta Cemetery with a cremation service on Friday 25th January, 2013. The service...

Christmas Greetings for 2012 WA TV History This holiday season the WA TV History team is having a short break and hopefully you will too. It’s been another great year with lots to do. Great people to meet, of which many where old friends and colleagues… all members of the radio and television fraternity. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May next year bring you good health, happiness and prosperity.

    The western region of the Australian Museum of Motion Picture and Television (AMMPT) has had a series of presidents since Daryl Binning decided to concentrate on the role of national president. Photography emporium proprietor Ron Frank kept the seat warm for a short time, followed by television pioneer Ross McDonald. The current president is John Fuhrmann, a man with vast experience in sports administration with an early background as a football umpire, whilst maintaining a long held passion for music as a theatre organist. Cygnet manager Graham Kahn with John Fuhrmann...