Deputy NSW Coroner rules out inquest into deaths of two women in canyon at Mt Wilson

Kelly Foster and Yuanlei (Jenny) Qi were sucked into a whirlpool in the popular canyon, Wollangambe One, in Mt Wilson, on Saturday January 2, 2021, while on a social trip with a bushwalking club. They drowned soon after.

Ms Foster, 39, a serving police officer, died attempting to save Ms Qi, a 24-year-old international student. Snr Constable Foster's family had requested an inquest.

In a written statement to the Gazette outlining her reasons for dispensing with an inquest for both women, Deputy State Coroner, Magistrate Harriet Grahame, said the manner of death was "accidental drowning" by "misadventure, canyoning".

The Deputy Coroner's reasons for dispensing with an inquest in relation to both Ms Foster and Ms Qi, said that the court was "aware of changes made by the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Upper Blue Mountains Bushwalking Club following these tragic deaths", adding "in my view no systemic issues are raised that should be examined at inquest".

"The circumstances are not suspicious according to police."

National Parks closed the canyon to the public for many months, undertook a formal risk assessment and sought independent, expert advice. They brought in giant boulders by helicopter to ensure the large underground chamber where the women became trapped could be filled. They have monitored the new hydraulic feature through rain events.

Instructions for the canyon on the National Parks website say you must be a good swimmer to do it and warn about "dangerous whirlpools". It also recommends avoiding the canyon "just before, during or after heavy rainfall".

The two women were with a walking group of eight others on the expedition at Mt Wilson and "the group leader was reportedly an experienced canyoner," the Coroner's statement said.

The expedition consisted of walking sections and times where an inflatable lilo was used to cross the water.

The report said: "Around 12.30pm the group was ready to cross a stretch of water. Ms Qi was floating across when she was suddenly drawn into a whirlpool. She apparently grabbed the leg of another group member who was attempting unsuccessfully to assist her.

"Ms Foster then bravely attempted to save the member in trouble as she was still submerged. In trying to assist, Ms Foster herself was pulled into the whirlpool and did not resurface."

The Deputy Coroner has been told members of the group tried to assist the pair but the women disappeared. The pair had been swept into an unusual whirlpool about three to four metres deep.

A walking group member made the steep climb out from the river to get phone reception. Emergency crews were on the scene from 2.30pm and the bodies were eventually found, with the help of police divers, a few metres down the river more than a day later.

The Upper Blue Mountains Bushwalking Club has not been back in Wollangambe One canyon since the tragedy.

New president Jim O'Keeffe told the Gazette: "I think out of respect to the families and the people on the trip we didn't include it [in the program], that time has passed".

They ended all activities for three months after the deaths and established a panel to conduct a full safety review.

"We had a look at all our protocols and procedures to make sure there wasn't anything that was missing," he said.

"As a committee we were determined to ensure our activities were as safe as possible."

Mr O'Keeffe said a range of measures had been brought in by the club, including a new role for a canyoning coordinator who oversees the canyon program, as well as a grading system for canyons and a guidelines for canyoning leaders document, "which formalised the stuff we already did in one single document".

The Wollangambe canyon has a large catchment area with many tributaries and the volume of water through Wollangambe River, unlike smaller slot canyons is considerable. Wollangambe One is classified as an introductory canyon.

At the time of the incident Police Rescue Sergeant Dallas Atkinson, who helped recover the bodies, said: "in the context of Blue Mountains canyons it's an extremely unusual event", one he had not seen in 14 years working in the rescue area.

"It could have happened to anybody," he said. "It was an unfortunate tragedy."

"Wollangambe One is the one you take your kids through," Sgt Atkinson said. "But canyoning does have risks and canyons' behaviour is unpredictable."

"We watched it Sunday, when we were in there to retrieve the girls, and it was changing constantly. It [the whirlpool] would come and go. We're talking about physics ... the volume through Wollangambe River, unlike slot canyons is considerable ... it was going into a space you wouldn't expect it to be going."

Blue Mountains Police Chief Inspector Peter Scheinflug said at the time: "It's true traditions of the NSW Police that it's service above self and it's a common line we're quite often first responders [who] run towards danger as other people run from it."

Senior Constable Kelly Ann Foster became the 275th serving NSW police officer whose name was etched into the Wall of Remembrance in The Domain to mark National Police Remembrance Day on September 29 last year.