Jet crash victims arrive home

March 14, 2007 - 10:02AM

The bodies of five Australians killed in an Indonesian jet crash last week have arrived back in Australia and are being honoured in a ceremony at Fairbairn airbase.
The Royal Australian Airforce Hercules carrying the remains touched down in Canberra a short time ago.
The five Australians who perished in the GA200 flight from Jakarta to Yogyakarta were Australian Embassy official Liz O'Neill, AusAID chief in Indonesia Allison Sudradjat, Australian Federal Police counter-terrorism officers Brice Steele and Mark Scott, and Australian Financial Review journalist, Morgan Mellish.
Governor-General Major-General Michael Jeffery and Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile, representing Prime Minister John Howard, are at the airport.
Other dignitaries in attendance include Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd and many other government ministers.
AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) secretary Michael L'estrange are also there.
Friends and family of the victims moved onto the tarmac where the plane came to a halt and the rear ramp was lowered to the ground.
Twenty AFP officers then marched onto the tarmac and entered the Hercules, followed by AFP drummer Steve Terrance.
The first casket to leave the plane was that of Mr Mellish, who was due to celebrate his 37th brithday today, followed by the other four victims.
The caskets, draped in Australian flags, were left to rest on the tarmac to allow the families to pay their respects.
Four Australian and four AFP flags are flying at half mast on the edge of the runway.
AAP

Stephanie Peatling and Craig Skehan report on the previous evening's events:
Last night the five flag-draped coffins were loaded onto an RAAF Hercules for the flight to Canberra.
Family members gathered around the coffins on the same tarmac at Yogyakarta airport where the accident occurred last Wednesday.
There were flowers and a guard of honour of Australian Federal Police officers and Indonesian National Police.
A chartered Qantas jet brought relatives of the dead from Australia as well as friends and relatives from Jakarta, particularly personnel from the Australian embassy.
The secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Michael L'Estrange, the director-general of AusAID, Bruce Davis, and the editor of The Australian Financial Review, Glenn Burge, travelled to Indonesia for the service.