“My passenger’s trying to take over.” These were the words that set in motion a dramatic emergency landing of a small plane near Oberon on Monday afternoon.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The incident left the pilot and his passenger in hospital, but police would not confirm a mid-flight altercation between the two men.
Chifley local area command Inspector Mark Wall said the 23-year-old pilot had to “restrain” the 82-year-old passenger after an “incident occurred”.
“The pilot was forced to make an emergency landing in a paddock,” he said.
The Western Advocate has obtained a recording of the pilot’s conversation with air traffic controllers before he brought down his Beech 76 fixed-wing aircraft on the property “Bloomfield”, on Titania Road, about 3.20pm.
In the recording the pilot is asked “are you able to regain control of the aircraft?”.
He is then directed to make an emergency landing.
“During the emergency landing no injuries were sustained to the pilot or the passenger,” Inspector Wall said yesterday.
However, the 82-year-old passenger was airlifted to Sydney’s Westmead Hospital with head and facial injuries, and the pilot was assessed and had his leg x-rayed at Oberon Hospital, indicating a fight while in the air.
The elderly man booked the flight with Basair Aviation College from Sydney to Cowra and the plane left Bankstown about 2pm on Monday.
Inspector Wall said police believe the men did not know each other prior to the flight.
He would not confirm reports the elderly man had tampered with the plane’s controls mid-flight.
Inspector Wall said while the pilot had already been interviewed by police, the next stage would be to interview the elderly man.
He said the aircraft would also be inspected by forensic officers for mechanical faults.
Basair Aviation College’s managing director David Trevelyan said the pilot was able to regain control of the aircraft, issue an emergency “pan-pan” announcement and then land safely.
A pan call is when the pilot is in trouble but not in a life-threatening situation.
“I would like to praise the actions of the pilot. He showed fantastic skill,” Mr Trevelyan said.
“He did an excellent job in an amazingly difficult scenario ... and under tremendous pressure.”
No charges have been laid in relation to the incident.
