Small Plane Barely Misses Hitting a Building During Emergency Landing in Sydney
During an emergency landing, every little action the pilot takes can spell the difference between life and death - not just for the pilot and any other crew or passengers on board, but for any bystanders in the plane's path. Even a small plane that's closer to a sedan than a commercial jet in size can spell disaster if it hits a building on its way down.
One very skilled Australian pilot managed to avoid such a disaster during an emergency landing this weekend, but only just. Aerial footage of the dramatic crash landing showed his small plane just barely skating over the tops of buildings as it struggled to make the runway.
The footage shared by @abc7chicago shows a nail-biting close finish as the small Cessna, reportedly operating without power, narrowly missed multiple neighborhood homes and an airport building in its desperate descent to the runway in suburban Sydney, Australia. Missing the top of the airport building by only a few feet, the small plane narrowly reached the tarmac, and while it immediately lost control and skidded into the grass, it remained upright and intact.
A Very Close Call
CNN reported that the Cessna was operated by Jake Swanepoel, a pilot with 29 years of flying experience. Swanepoel was flying over Sydney with his partner Karin on Sunday when he experienced a sudden "engine problem" that caused him to lose power. He made a mayday call and immediately steered the plane towards Bankstown Airport in southwest Sydney.
Had they been any further from the airport, they would not have made it. The plane was flying so low at the end that Swanepoel reportedly retracted the landing gear for fear that it would clip roofs on the way down- hence why the plane skidded on its belly when it hit the runway, instead of landing on its wheels.
"“It was gliding, there was no power,” Swanepoel reportedly told CNN affiliate Nine News. “We clipped the trees, and we just made it over the hangar.”
With a mixture of seasoned skill and sheer luck, Swanepoel managed to dodge every obstacle save a few clipped tree branches, and he and Karin emerged from their emergency landing unscathed. According to Australia's ABC News, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is collecting information on the crash before deciding whether or not to investigate. However, New South Wales police reportedly set up a crime scene and are conducting their own investigation.
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