Neville Power in alleged border breach: Flight radar has no record of Queensland flight

Flight tracking websites have no record of WA businessman Neville Power flying his $700,000 helicopter into Queensland — a trip police allege breached WA’s border restrictions. Flightradar24, which displays live air traffic around the world, shows Mr Power’s Robinson R44 II took off from Jandakot Airport on September 28. The helicopter’s next known landing location was Leonora in the Goldfields, 800km north-east of Perth. It then continued east to Alice Springs. Not all of the 2000km journey from Jandakot to Alice Springs was captured by the website, which picks up transponder signals containing the aircraft’s location. According to Flightradar24, the helicopter departed Alice Springs on September 29 and flew east for 25 minutes before the signal stopped. No flight activity for the chopper — which has the tail number VH-TEM — was detected for the following nine days. The next time a location was recorded was October 8, about 15 minutes flying time from Port Hedland. It then continued west to Onslow and Exmouth that day. On October 9, the helicopter stopped at Carnarvon and Geraldton before arriving at Jandakot Airport. A week later, Mr Power was seen at the Telethon Ball. Police interviewed Mr Power, who is originally from Queensland, and his 36-year-old son, Nick Power, on October 20. The police allege the pair flew to WA by helicopter from Queensland without completing a G2G Pass. They have each been charged with three counts of failing to comply with a direction. The company which owns the helicopter, Airpower Australia Pty Ltd, has been hit with the same charge. Neville Power is the sole director of the company, which is registered to his home in Henley Brook. The maximum penalty for breaching WA’s COVID laws is 12 months jail or a $50,000 fine. The fine for a corporation is up to $250,000. It’s understood Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) is required when flying “instrument flight rules” but not when flying “visual flight rules” in uncontrolled airspace. A spokeswoman for Neville Power said he had no comment as the matter would be dealt with through the court. Neville Power was last year selected by Prime Minister Scott Morrison to lead the Federal Government’s COVID-19 economic task force. The body was disbanded within a year.