AU – Light Plane Crash in Lawson NSW
At 2:15PM on Saturday 10th May 2014, numerous emergency vehicles were seen traveling down Great Western Highway towards Lawson at high speed, responding to reports of light plane crash in a residential area. The Cirrus SR22 plane had departed from an airport in Sydney and had experienced engine failure at 1200m over the rugged Blue Mountains with no safe place to land. It was confirmed that there were 3 passengers on board. Members of the Blue Mountains RRT attended the site to offer support.
The plane was equipped with a specialist parachute designed for an entire light aircraft which allowed the 3 passengers to make a miraculous escape. The plane was seen to first spiral then levelled out once the parachute was activated. The plane descended slowly and the pilot of the Cirrus aircraft skilfully managed to avoid houses and major power lines before safely landing the plane in the front yard of a residential property. The landing was surprisingly quite soft as neighbours prepared for the worst.
Miraculously, all those on board escaped serious injury with only one passenger taken to hospital for neck pain. Fortunately, no one was injured on the ground.
With a steady autumn breeze, accompanied by a light drizzle of rain, and the day drawing to a close, the Incident Controller confirmed that the RRT should set up their trailer, to provide hot and cold drinks and sausage sandwiches to Emergency Personnel on site. These were considered a great comfort due to the weather conditions and nightfall.
By 6:00PM the NSW police inspector advised local residents to return to their homes as the scene was declared safe. All Emergency Personnel also stood down until the next day when salvage of the plane could take place.
According to media reports, this is the first time a specialist parachute has been deployed in Australia to save a plane. The Safety feature has contributed to saving over 85 lives thought-out the world.
