February 9, 2015
A 29-year-old pilot had a lucky escape after making a forced emergency landing in his light plane at the Wondai airstrip on Saturday morning.
The two-seater RV6A aircraft had taken off 20 minutes earlier at Archerfield Airport in Brisbane and was on its way to Charters Towers when the incident occurred.
Snr Sgt Duane Frank, from Kingaroy Police, said the pilot realised his aircraft had a mechanical issue, and was possibly leaking oil or fuel, so decided to land at the nearest airport.
However, after landing it ran out of runway, clipping a small tree at the end of the strip and causing minor damage to the wings.
Two fire crews were called to the scene just before 7:00am because of a small fire in the engine bay. They were alerted in case the plane sparked a grass fire.
The smoke coming from the engine bay, believed to have been caused by burning oil, was extinguished by 7:15am but the front of the plane and the nose-wheel were damaged.
The pilot was the sole person on board and was not injured in the incident.
A friend flew up to Wondai to pick him up and take him back home.
A spokesman for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said they would not be investigating the incident.
(Photo: Barambah District Aero Club)
