The extraordinary plane crash that killed two media men remembered in Cervantes

Berwyn Grieve visited the Cervantes site where her husband died 60 years to the day earlier for the first time on Saturday. And her eldest child Greg met Kent Williams, whose father also died in the same plane crash in 1960, for the first time. Amazingly by coincidence, Faye McIntosh, whose then boyfriend who later became her husband and who survived the crash, was in Cervantes on Saturday — her bones telling her there was an emotional get-together. The West Australian photographer Owen Williams, 38, and Channel 7 cameraman Keith Milner, 27, died when their chartered plane crashed into the waters off the Coral Coast fishing town on November 28, 1960. The pair had been trying to get pictures and vision of the stranded freezer boat Villaret. The two-year-old, single-engine Cessna had completed two circuits of the wreck under the guidance of another The West Australian employee Robert Owens, who had a commercial pilot’s licence, when it hit the water and cartwheeled. Mr Owens and Alan McIntosh, a cadet reporter for The West Australian, survived the crash. The crew of the Villaret watched on helplessly as the stricken plane immediately sank. Divers Bill Smith and Tom Snider found Mr Williams inside the plane and dragged him out, but it was too late to revive him. Mr Milner’s body was recovered closer to shore later in the day. Last Saturday, a plaque was dedicated in a mission for closure. Mr Milner’s 86-year-old widow Berwyn was visiting the site for the first time. Included in the group were her sons Greg and Peter and Mr Williams’ son Kent. Greg Milner, who was only five and the eldest of three children when his father was killed, said the family had recently been refurbishing his Karrakatta Cemetery grave. “The (Cervantes) ceremony was emotional. There were some misty eyes,” Mr Milner said. “Kent and I supposedly met as kids, but we couldn’t remember it, so it was like a first-time meeting. “He lives in Perth and I’m at Dunsborough. We organised Saturday by phone calls and emails.” Coincidentally, Faye McIntosh was in Cervantes on the weekend, but didn’t know the meeting between the two families who lost husbands and fathers was on. “I just had this feeling, this sense something was happening,” Mrs McIntosh said. “I was going out with Alan when the accident happened. I heard it on the radio but it didn’t give the names of those who had died. “I rang his parents in the country, but they hadn’t heard about it. I rang The West Australian and they said Alan had survived.” According to Mrs McIntosh, her husband, who was in his mid-40s when he died in 1987, had bad memories of the crash. “He was lucky to survive but had nightmares, a permanent limp and didn’t like flying after that. I will be at the get-together next year,” Mrs McIntosh said. Greg Milner started as a cadet journalist for The Daily News in 1973 and worked directly alongside Mr McIntosh and they became friends. His brother Peter worked at Channel 7 in accounts. “Alan told me my dad and Owen were standing on the wings, urging the pilot to go lower so they could get better pictures,” Greg Milner said. Keith Milner, known widely as Digby, had started his career as a press photographer before going on to Channel 7, where his coverage of the 1960 Rome Olympics won him nationwide recognition. Son Greg also followed a media path and was a former Channel 7 senior news producer. Greg Milner said he had only “fleeting memories” of his father, but remembered being told of his death in a visit to the family home by Channel 7’s news director Darcy Farrell and senior executive Syd Donovan. “I remember vividly our house being completely in darkness and these two tall gentlemen standing at the front door telling us they’d found dad’s body,” he said. “As you get older, you start to realise the significance of it and particularly now that I’m nearly 40 years older than Dad was when he died. Mr Williams, a World War II veteran, was regarded as an outstanding photographer with nearly two decades of experience. His son Kent said he had block-mounted several of the best images his father had captured. Kent, who was nine at the time of the incident, has a seat cushion as a remnant from the plane. He remembered spending time with his father the day before the crash while his now late mother Marjorie, who died aged 91 in 2014, was holidaying in Adelaide. “He was a shift worker and was often at home during the day,” he said. “He was lying on the couch, and typical of an ex-vet, he was drinking a king brown (beer bottle) and had no shirt on. I remember a mixture of beer and his particular odour as a strong feature.” Kent said he had struggled to deal with the death of his father for some time. “There is a child inside me and he is still pretty cut up about it,” he said. “My adult self understands what happened, but the child is still dealing with it.” The respective daughters of Mr Williams and Mr Milner, Sheryl West and Kerry Morison, both live in Melbourne and were unable to return for the ceremony because of COVID-19 quarantine restrictions.