A near-fatal incident was averted on Sunday, when a pilot and his passenger escaped unharmed after their plane crashed on the runway after narrowly escaping residential buildings.
The light plane, Cessna 210, made an emergency landing at Sydney’s Bankstown Airport after it lost power.
As per an ABC report, the plane was gliding over houses and trees near the tarmac before it made an emergency landing at the Sydney airport. The Cessna 210 plane carrying two people had almost crashed over the tops of the trees at one point during the flight as the engine had failed.
Both the pilot Jake Swanepoel and his partner emerged unhurt after the dramatic emergency landing.
In the aerial footage, Cessna 210 flies over the suburban homes of the city at the narrowest margins. It also misses the roof of a building at the end of the runway.
📌 In Australia, pilot Jake Swanepoel steered a Cessna light plane, whose engine failed, away from homes and hangars without crashing. #Breakıng pic.twitter.com/pdVHoaMO7B
— 𝕬𝖐ı𝖓𝖈ı (@soneerbozkurt) May 27, 2024
After landing on the runway, it screeched to a halt on the grass 150 meters later and soon crashed.
However, soon after the dramatic landing, the two passengers, who came out miraculously unhurt, can be seen leaving the plane.
The terrified pilot, Jake Swanepoel, who has flown for almost 30 years recorded his reaction to Australian outlet 9News and said, “It was gliding, there was no power.” He added, “We clipped the trees and just made it over the hangar.”
According to his partner, Karin said, “It was scary and nerve-wracking because you were thinking about all these homes that you could potentially… you know, if you don’t make the runway.” She added that they did not even know if they would be able to make it to the runway.
The pilot could be heard calling out “Mayday, mayday” and “engine problem” for help in a radio call to the airport, as per the ABC report. Responding to the message from the pilot stuck in the crisis, the tower controller replied, “All runways will be available, track as required.”
As per the spokesperson for New South Wales Ambulance, there were no injuries. However, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau will investigate the reason behind the crash.
