Cameras caught the moment a light aircraft made a dramatic emergency crash landing at an Australian airport Sunday afternoon.
After receiving reports of a plane crash at Bankstown Airport in Sydney, first responders raced to the scene and found that both the male pilot and female passenger had escaped the accident uninjured, according to 9News Sydney. 7NEWS Australia helicopter cameras caught the dramatic approach and crash on film, as the plane skimmed rooftops and narrowly missed trees. (RELATED: Pair Cheats Death After Plane With Parachute Spirals To Ground In Florida, Video Shows)
A remarkable emergency landing took place at Bankstown Airport this afternoon, with a stricken aircraft skimming over homes and other buildings after losing power.
The couple on board telling #9News that they didn’t think they were going to make it to the runway. @MarkWBurrows… pic.twitter.com/TaRJUikuot
— 9News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) May 26, 2024
The pilot, Jake Swanepoel, can be heard in the video saying, “Mayday, mayday, Mike Yankee Whiskey engine problem” as the plane glided through the air.
James Rayment, the 7NEWS Australia cameraman who filmed the landing, said, “If he had put the landing gear down, he may not have made it over the building and trees.”
Swanepoel, a veteran pilot, told 7NEWS Australia, “We clipped the trees and just made it over the hangar.”
“It was scary and nerve-wracking,” the female passenger said. “It was very close. We didn’t think we were going to make this landing strip here … Thinking about all these homes, you could, you know … if you don’t make the runway.”
Local authorities praised Swanepoel for landing the plane in difficult circumstances.
“Fortunately, he executed a textbook crash landing, and no person was harmed,” a Bankstown Fire & Rescue spokesman told 7NEWS Australia.
Police have launched an investigation into the crash, and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) are conducting inquiries into the accident, 9News Sydney reported.
