Miraculous escape of pilot with cuts and bruises after high-speed crash near railway track when her plane failed in mid-air
- Female pilot, 30, medical plane forced to crash
- Only passenger miraculously suffered minor injuries
The pilot of a medical transport aircraft escaped with minor injuries after an emergency landing in a rail corridor.
Emergency services were called to Hillcrest, south Brisbane, at about 6:06 a.m. Friday after reports that a cargo plane had made an emergency landing.
The aircraft, a Piper PA-31-350, took off from Bankstown Airport in Western Sydney earlier that day with instructions to report a mechanical failure as it approached Archerfield Airport, in southern Brisbane.
The pilot and only person on board, a woman in her thirties from Brisbane, was forced to make an emergency landing along the rail corridor.
She was taken to Logan Hospital with minor injuries.
The female pilot, 30, of a medical transport plane escaped with minor injuries after an emergency landing (pictured) in the rail corridor in south-east Queensland
Flight data from FlightRadar24 shows the plane cruised at an altitude of about 9,000 feet for most of the flight until it reached the Border Ranges National Park in northern NSW.
However, the plane slowed down and descended sharply about 15 minutes after crossing the national park.
The pilot then made two 90-degree turns before making an emergency landing in a rail corridor at a speed of approximately 120 km/h, causing serious damage to the aircraft.
“At 6 a.m. there was a descending sound of a plane as you would expect and then a big crash,” said Stuart Davies, who lives near the crash site.
“You could tell it was a plane…it was a really loud bang, you knew it wasn’t a car.
“I got out of bed, jumped over the fence and made my way as fast as I could.
“She (the pilot) was limping and I tried to get her off the plane and then over the train tracks with a sore leg and then I got her over the train tracks to safety.”
The aircraft was badly damaged after an emergency landing at about 120 km/h, but the pilot was only taken to hospital as a precaution
The emergency services arrived at the scene within 10 minutes of the crash and were surprised that the pilot had not been seriously injured.
“It was a very good result given the circumstances,” said James Van Den Bogert, supervisor of the Balmoral Ambulance Station.
“When I first arrived I saw the plane next to the railway line and it appeared there was significant damage to the forward cockpit of the plane and the right engine also appears to be suffering severe damage.”
People with information or relevant images are asked to contact the police.
The medical airline, AirMed, said they are cooperating with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and assisting the Australian Transport Safety Bureau with investigations.