DAVID Black, killed water bombing a fire on the south coast, was a man of courage, ability and bravery.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 43-year-old crashed into rugged terrain west of Ulladulla on Thursday.
He was a husband, father and skilled aviation business operator who had played a significant role in fire fighting operations in the Orana region and across the state.
Rural Fire Service Orana team leader Superintendent Lyndon Wieland described his friend and colleague as a hero.
“All of our guys who risk their lives to help others are heroes,” he told the Daily Liberal.
VIDEO: RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons responds to the tragedy
“I knew David for about nine years and often used him for water bombing in the Orana area.
“He lived and ran a business from Trangie which is part of our rural fire district.
“We gave each other a lot of advice over the years about how to do things better with aerial (fire) suppression.
“David and his aviation company have always been there to help; it only took one phone call and he was straight in the air.
“I particularly remember an emergency last year when a house south-west of Trangie was threatened by a running grass fire.
“David's company was in action immediately and saved the house.”
Mr Black completed year 12 at St Peters College in Adelaide.
After studying Mechanical Engineering in South Australia, he pursued a career in aerial application, where from an early stage he demonstrated a high degree of natural skill, commitment and professionalism.
He was one of the youngest pilots to graduate to turbine aircraft when they were introduced into Australia during the early 1990s.
Mr Black was well regarded throughout the industry and had served in a leadership role as a Director of the Aerial Agricultural Association of Australia.
At the time of his death aged 43, Mr Black had logged around 10,000 flying hours, predominantly in aerial application.
Superintendant Wieland said the Orana fire operations centre took a major morale hit when the news came through.
“Our staff felt like they had been hit by a bomb,'' he said.
“His death has hit colleagues right around NSW. We all knew David and the important role he played.”
“David's death is a terrible loss for his family, the Trangie community and the NSW fire-fighting family.
“He will be dearly missed.”
Mr Black was a popular and respected figure throughout the tight-knit aerial application industry and had operated in Malaysia, South Australia, and NSW.
Rebel Ag was established in 1982 and in 2011 Mr Black and his wife Julie bought the business and relocated to Trangie from their family farm at Forbes.
Rebel Ag owns and operates a fleet of nine application and agricultural aircraft servicing the cereal and cotton growing areas of upper and central western NSW as well as contracting firebombing aircraft and pilots to the Rural Fire Services.
Mr Black was a committed and loving husband and father and is survived by his wife Julie and three children.
The crash is the fourth fatal accident in Australia involving an M18 Dromander aircraft since 2006, and the second to have crashed while fighting bushfires.
