Decade rolling to a mark from the Children Overboard scandal and sea-faring travellers, water-borne refugees and other wave-laid migrants continue to face attack. And downed early ahead of a school bell in Sydney's South West, air travel adds another volley in the transport wars against the sea.
EXT. CANLEY VALE ROAD AND SACKVILLE STREET - DAY
Pilot Andrew Wilson takes off from Bankstown Airport. Reports engine failure soon after. Control tower and the Piper aircraft read a map from who knows where looking for non-existent places to land.
The light plane misses the expanse of Adam's Park. Tangles itself in power lines and asphalt next door to Canley Vale Public School.
Air hits ground, flames crackle leaves, explosions go boom and the wailing of a dozen fire engines race to the scene.
No amount of furious rubbing of the Kokopelli would present even fertile soil for this crashing endeavour. (That park happens to be minutes away by foot.)
Resident of the plane-bombed abode, Kevin Huynh, finds quite the morning alarm. His front gate is cooking itself a nice grill of metal and brick as the school next door evacuates the children and staff before the morning roll.
ABC News reports Huynh to be a "local man". A "shocked resident," says the AAP wire. SBS News describe the man as 33.
Nevermind the innocuousism however, the Sydney Morning Herald quotes and reports with real colour and strips away the veil:
"I was alone in the house, I got up to see what was happening and I could see that the front gate was on fire and the pole in front of my home had been damaged," said Mr Huynh, 33, who came to Australia from Vietnam as a boat person.
The note that Huynh is a boat person adds an oddly off-hand remark that neither calls for it nor adds to the story. Much like the placebos proffered by many of the old apothecary. Does nothing, but someone, somewhere is feeling the sugar high.
Unless the real story of the plane is the plain the plane maintains isn't quite plain at all. (We may discount being labelled not-so fresh off the boat due to locality, but that would be overtly racist.)
Day later and we learn that despite the freeze on processing Sri Lankans and Afghans seeking asylum to stem the tide, Australia will still flow in a bumper crop of boat people.
Months back and the story that Christmas Island itself is seeing the tree bow with the influx as the off-shoring of that work detail will later wind up back on the mainland. You can't outsource everything it seems.
With all these boat people and refugees, crashing a small aircraft right into the home of one appears to be serving up the rainy day meal of Lady Balfour potatoes mixing with 2 medium egg yolks along with other ingredients in this feudal transport match between the air travellers and those by sea.
Written on Wednesday, 16 June 2010