Plane hits ferris wheel at Old Bar near Taree

[Nigel C]

A real show stopper, I bet!:p

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/plane-crashes-into-ferris-wheel/story-e6freuy9-1226154891448

FOUR people are trapped after a light plane attempting to land crashed into a ferris wheel at Taree.

The incident has happened at Old Bar where a festival was taking place.

Witnesses say two people are trapped in the plane wreckage and another two remain trapped on the ferris wheel.

A witness told 2GB: "Everybody's safe. The pilots are still in the plane, they're getting a cherrypicker to get them out.

"The light plane was coming in to land but was off course and went sideways into the ferris wheel.

"It's still wedged into the ferris wheel.

"There are two children in the ferris wheel, but they're all OK."

[Philip Argy]

Here's a better photo:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-01/plane-crashes-at-festival/3204934

[David Knudsen]

That's one strong ferris wheel!

[Ray P.]

I have just been checking old Old Bar on Google Earth and matching it with the location of the amusement rides for the Old Bar Festival as detailed on their website and some of the photos. It appears that the ferris wheel is situated approx 130m off the end of the runway and 22m off the centreline (at best). That seems like a pretty small margin for error.

[Philip Argy]

Absolutely crazy (although aircraft were probably assumed to have a reasonable climb performance)! And how lucky that the gondola dislodged by the aircraft's impact was unoccupied. :(

[Mick F]

An image on the news I just saw of the airstrip showed a white cross on the strip. That indicates the runway is unserviceable. One has to wonder what they were doing there....

[Nigel C]

If the aircraft was already in trouble, I don't think white crosses would stop them from attempting a landing.

[Andrew P]

My impression was the plane had just taken of from the strip , not trying to land

[Nigel C]

The original story suggests it was trying to land, and other reports have said the plane 'didn't sound right'. But as always, eyewitness accounts can change from one media outlet to another, and from one day to the next.

[David Ramsay]

Some good info here (http://firegeezer.com/2011/10/01/ultra-light-plane-crashes-into-ferris-wheel/) including a couple of videos.

[Shayne G]

If the aircraft was already in trouble, I don't think white crosses would stop them from attempting a landing

Good point Nigel.

[Ray P.]

I'd be interested to see if the white cross denoting an unserviceable runway was there before or after this incident.

[Matt R]

Nearmap has Old Bar images dated 17th of September.

http://www.nearmap.com/?ll=-31.966344,152.592845&z=17&t=h&nmd=20110917

[Jakef]

There is a chance the cross may have been laid down after the accident to stop a repeat incident...
I feel really sorry for the pilot, the lapse of judgement and bad luck he faced will no doubt haunt him for some time. I remember seeing one interview where the person sitting right seat said that he didn't know what happened, it just did. Apparently he was performing a go-around after a bad approach, the stress from that, coupled with the yaw and drift from the prop probably contributed to this.
They sure do build those Morgan Sierra's strong though! Apparently that plane will fly again.

[Ray P.]

Not sure about any lapse in judgement by the pilot, a ferris wheel is generally not the sort of thing you would expect to see so close to the end of a runway. I read that he didn't even see it. Were there any NOTAMs applicable?

[Mick F]

Old Bar wouldn't be subject to a NOTAM service as it's not a registered aerodrome.

How you miss a ferris wheel is a bit of a mystery. I've got plenty of experience flying in and out of ALA's and because there's no NOTAM service, you always check for new things before you land!

Mick

[Nigel C]

Reports are the ferris wheel has been in pretty much the same spot the last 6 years of the festival, so if the pilot was a regular user or a local in the area one might expect he'd know about it.

Jakef, I'd have thought the runway would have been taken out of service as a matter of due course because of the festival and its close proximity to the end of the runway.

The investigation will no doubt reveal all.

[Stephen Brown]

I've been to that festival a couple of times before and the airstrip was always operating, the latest was in 2008. Maybe that has changed in the last three years, but I do remember the Ferris Wheel and its location.

They even put a Caribou iin there in 2007.

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6076173

[Nigel C]

Shameless plug....:rolleyes:

:p


But did the magpie suffer a caribou-strike?

[Stephen Brown]

Nige, you know the deal. The Caribou and the Twin Otter. The only Aircraft to ever suffer a bird strike from the rear......