Pacific Highway Upgrade Opens Bypassing Clybucca Bus Crash Site

26 years after one of the worst bus crashes in Australian history, the Pacific Highway upgrade opens today, bypassing the Clybucca crash site.

Federal Member for Cowper Luke Hartsuyker has welcomed the opening of the new $614 million Frederickton to Eungai section of the Pacific Highway Upgrade, which will bypass the site where the Clybucca Bus Crash claimed 35 lives back in 1989.

“This is a very important day in the lives of so many people on the Mid North Coast, and around the nation, who were touched by the horror of the morning of December 22 in 1989,” Mr Hartsuyker said.

“Completing this stretch of the Pacific Highway Upgrade is also symbolic, because the scale and horror of the Clybucca bus crash was the impetus for the Pacific Highway duplication from Hexham to the Queensland border.

“There are emergency service workers, neighbours who lived near the crash site, support workers, doctors, nurses and counsellors who will never forget that event, and for some probably think of it every day." Mr Hartsuyker said.

Salvation Army Lieutenant Colonel Don Woodland, who administered to the dying and comforted rescuers and relatives on the day of the crash shared his memories of that horror day.

He wrote,

It was early morning 22^nd December and the sun had not yet risen. 

In the darkness two tourist coaches slammed head on into each other on the Pacific Highway at a place called Clybucca Flats just north of Kempsey.  On impact the buses concertinaed and both drivers were killed instantly.  The passengers, most of whom were sleeping were flung around like rag dolls.

The neighbour, who lived opposite the accident, said “all we could hear was screaming and crying I'm cold, help me help me.  I had never heard anything like it in my life.  It was the sound of people dying'.

It was still dark on that Thursday morning when I received a call from 2UE journalist David Allender who said 'something really bad has happened north of Kempsey.  We are lifting off in 30 minutes.  I told him I would be there'.  

The 2UE helicopter lifted off at 6am and we arrived at the scene not long after sunrise.  Circulating the crash site a couple of times gave us a horrific first impression as to what had happened.

At that time I was the Senior Chaplain of the N.S.W. Fire Brigades and on landing I made my way to the Fire Brigade Captain from Kempsey – Captain Peter Hinchcliffe.  He later told me some of his thoughts as he saw me climbing out of the helicopter.

I knew immediately what I had to do.  I introduced myself to the Captains of the Kempsey and South Rocks Brigades.  The scene which surrounded me will never be forgotten.  Many of the Rescue Service members, I knew as I began to focus on the workers of the various services at the coal face.

The scene was frantic and continued so for many hours.  I was asked to work alongside the Forensic Police Officers, known to me from previous disasters we had shared together.  This was indeed a traumatic time for all concerned as it was just three days prior to Christmas and many of the passengers were travelling to respective families for the Christmas Celebrations.

Later in the afternoon the Police Sergeant from Kempsey contacted me saying 'we are getting over run with next of kin'.  Relatives were beginning to arrive from Brisbane and Sydney.  The Officer in Command asked if I would work in this area with the next of kin.

I clearly remember working late into the night with members of the Fire Brigade as they made their way home.

The general public, I am sure are not completely aware of how these traumatic situations affect rescue personnel and their families. 

One cannot come away from seeing death, destruction and such carnage without being touched by the grief, the slaughter and the tragedy yourself.  It would be impossible to gauge the effects of an incident like this on a wide and diverse range of people.

Some days later as I continued the debriefing process, I found myself involved with not only fire fighters and their families, but Ambulance personnel, Hospital Staff and SES workers  Indeed the whole community had been involved. 

Drop a pebble into a pond and watch the ripples expanding from the point of impact and you will see in part the effects of a traumatic incident. It is far reaching, way beyond the people actually involved in the incident and the emergency service personnel who responded to the scene.

Yours sincerely,

D.T. WOODLAND OAM
Lieut-Colonel.

The opening of Frederickton to Eungai section of the highway upgrade means two thirds of the duplicated highway is now open to traffic.