Three Australian Army Blackhawk Helicopters Pass Through Rockhampton Airport Heading to PNG

During a stormy Saturday 13 October, three Australian Army Sikorsky S-70A-9 Blackhawk helicopters were noted passing through Rockhampton Airport while heading to Papua New Guinea (PNG).

File photo

They arrived from the South separately as "Centurion 62", "Centurion 61" (as shown below) and "Centurion 63".  

After taking on fuel, all three - which were sadly not able to be identified - departed together under the one radio callsign of "Centurion" and looked to head West to avoid weather before later landing at Townsville.

The Blackhawks are all flown by the Australian Army's 171st Aviation Squadron (forming part of the 6th Aviation Regiment) based at Holsworthy Barracks near Sydney.  It is believed they are ultimately heading to Papua New Guinea which is hosting the forthcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings.

It has been reported that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is supporting Papua New Guinea’s hosting of APEC 2018 with up to 1500 ADF members deployed to assist with security.

Photo taken by Trevor Hardsman  ©