10 years on, ABC remembers John Bean, Paul Lockyer & Gary Ticehurst.

Ten years ago today, in one of the ABC’s darkest days, a helicopter crash over Lake Eyre led to the death of camera operator John Bean, reporter Paul Lockyer and pilot Gary Ticehurst.

All three were working on a news documentary and capturing footage of Australia’s spectacular inland waterway.

To mark this sad anniversary, for the next month the ABC has made available on iview the documentary Lake Eyre, which showcases some of their beautiful work and includes a tribute to the three men.

“The loss of Paul, John and Gary was absolutely devastating,” said ABC Director, News Gaven Morris. “To many of us they were good friends as well as colleagues. It was a terrible blow that will always be deeply felt. The thoughts of everyone at the ABC are with their families and friends.”

John Bean was an award-winning cameraman and master craftsman who worked for the ABC for two decades in Australia and internationally. He attended Griffith Film School and Griffith University awards the ABC John Bean ACS Memorial Scholarship for Cinematography in his honour.

Paul Lockyer was one of the ABC’s most respected journalists with a career spanning more than 40 years, starting as an ABC cadet in Perth. As a foreign correspondent he reported on some of the world’s biggest events, but it was the stories of Australia’s bush and its people for which he will be best remembered.

Gary Ticehurst was the ABC’s lead helicopter pilot. In almost 40 years of flying he logged more than 16,000 hours at the controls and contributed to thousands of stories. He was the embodiment of all the people who work so hard behind the scenes.