NSW: Pilot "did not stand a chance": witness

AAP General News (Australia)
04-05-2006
NSW: Pilot "did not stand a chance": witness

By Katherine Danks

SYDNEY, April 5 AAP - A light plane pilot killed during a takeoff exercise stood no
chance of surviving the high-speed crash, a witness says.

The male pilot, aged in his 40s, died on impact when his Lancair 360 crashed in front
of horrified onlookers at Bankstown Airport, in Sydney's south-west, about 2.40pm (AEST)
today.

Airservices Australia said the pilot was practising "touch and go's" - where the pilot
almost lands the plane before taking off again - in the minutes before it crashed.

A spokesman said the pilot did a steep right-hand turn from a height of about 380 metres
before hitting the ground upside down at high speed.

Wreckage from the plane hit at least one other parked aircraft and some runways, which
have since been cleared.

Witness and fellow pilot Todd Jackson told Southern Cross Broadcasting the pilot did
not stand a chance of surviving the crash.

"I really felt for the gentleman. He had no chance at all, just none at all," Mr Jackson said.

"The first thing I did was ring my wife Susan ... it just prompts you to ring your loved ones."

Mr Jackson said he heard the engine backfire a couple of times before it hit the ground
at "a hundred miles an hour" beside a hangar at the airport.

One man had run to the wreckage with a fire extinguisher but there was no fire, he said.

Another witness, identified only as Adam, said there were no apparent problems with
the aircraft before takeoff.

"I was there when the owner turned up and he apparently witnessed the takeoff and saw
the undercarriage turn up as per normal and he turned away just thinking it was a normal
takeoff," Adam told Macquarie Radio.

"A few minutes later he was told it crashed."

The Airservices Australia spokesman said it was not known if the man was a trainee
pilot or why he was practising touch and go's.

"He could have just been testing the aircraft. I don't have any information as to why
he was doing that," he said.

A Bankstown Airport spokeswoman said it would conduct a full investigation into the crash.

AAP kjd/was/jnb/de

KEYWORD: PLANE NIGHTLEAD

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