RedSpecial Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 (edited) Plane hits Ferris wheel north of Sydney, trapping four News item: A light plane has crashed into a Ferris wheel in a village north of Sydney, trapping four people, Australian officials say. The Cheetah S200 plane with two men aboard did not topple the wheel after hitting it during a festival in the village of Old Bar. The men and two children at the top of the wheel were trapped for hours before being rescued by a crane. There were no serious injuries in Saturday's incident, the officials say. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15135716 www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/plane-crashes-into-ferris-wheel/story-e6freuy9-1226154891448 It this a first? Thankfully no serious injuries from reports. Edited October 1, 2011 by RedSpecial Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal1br3tto Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Scary! Glad everyone seems fine. Hey, isn't my local fairgrounds near an airport? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 That is one hell of a strong Ferris Wheel! Looks like they were trying to re-create a scene from 1941. --Robb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCalCoasters Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I had no idea this was even possible...especially with no serious injuries... I think this qualifies for one of this year's biggest WTF theme park related stories... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerrykoala2112 Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 That is one hell of a strong Ferris Wheel! Looks like they were trying to re-create a scene from 1941. --Robb That, or it was a plane made of paper. I'm surprised the wheel is still standing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rollercoaster Rider Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 How stupid was the Pilot? I blame Him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougMJr Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 ^Pethaps something went wrong with the plane/glider. It appears to be an ultra-lite and perhaps a sting gust of wind blew it into the wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSpecial Posted October 1, 2011 Author Share Posted October 1, 2011 What really gets me it that everyone walked away - thankfully. You can appreciate why Disney are not keen on planes flying over their parks when you see something like this. Pleased nobody was seriously injured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 How stupid was the Pilot? I blame Him. "The aircraft reportedly failed to gain enough altitude after taking off from a nearby airport. " -BBC News Since an investigation is still pending, that's not really a fair statement. It may have been a mechanical problem or another freak incident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKULLY Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Being a pilot myself, it always seems like people are out to get us. If your car loses control due to a worn tire blowing out and you slam into another car, people blame it on the tire and look the other way. If the engine in my aircraft loses enough power to maintain altitude, then I somehow failed to determine that my aircraft was airworthy. I'm pretty confident that the pilot in command didn't look at the ferris wheel and think "TARGET!" Also, at least within the US, there are laws governing the overflight of crowded social gatherings such as a fair. Personally, I think that there's a much higher risk on a city street with cars doing nearly 40 mph. just feet away from pedestrians on the side walk than a light plane weighing half as much as a car flying 500 ft. over a crowd. The Disney issue is a bit akward and I think it's just as much to relieve the congestion of air traffic over their parks as it is an anti-terror act. I'm not sure about DisneyLand but I believe that Orlando's air traffic control will occasionally grant permission to overfly the resort if requested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmcdllr Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 How stupid was the Pilot? I blame Him. So its automatically the pilot's fault even if the plane had a sudden, unforseen mechanical failure? Or maybe the Ferris Wheel jumped in front of the plane making a collision unavoidable? Or better still....it was a terrorist attack! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaMiTsPaT Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I saw that picture posted over at Screamscape, and I was shocked to see the plane tangled in the Ferris Wheel. I am glad that everyone made it out! Very scary stuff to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noxegon Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Those religious extremists are just being silly now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastermaniac Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I am shocked that the Ferris Wheel didn't fall over as a result of the impact. Glad to see that everyone is ok. I'm not sure whether to believe it wasn't 100% the pilot's fault or not. I'm not saying he purposely did it; just that he probably could have done something about it to prevent the impact. Still, I don't think it's his fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSpecial Posted October 3, 2011 Author Share Posted October 3, 2011 I think this accident is both very unlucky and lucky at the same time. Very unfortunate for the pilot and Ferris Wheel riders but also very lucky at the same time - the wheel could have been full of riders or the whole structure could have come crashing down. I bet we don't see anything like this again in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Screamin_Eagle Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I agree with the statement that they are lucky the Ferris wheel held the plane AND held together after impact, otherwise there would have been a great deal of deaths.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal1br3tto Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I was just thinking the other day of a picture I have of a plane that crashed into a carousel. [/random] I agree that this could have turned out much worse, but is it wrong that I'm not overly surprised the Ferris wheel held up and there were no serious injuries? I've heard of other cases where everyone was similarly fortunate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six Flags Enthuseast Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I heard about this a few days ago, but now that I've seen how small the wheel is, I'm VERY amazed that it actually continued to stand! The plane probably wasn't traveling fast enough (and was probably too small) to cause any major damage, and it's certainly lucky that there weren't many people on the wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKULLY Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I am shocked that the Ferris Wheel didn't fall over as a result of the impact. Glad to see that everyone is ok. I'm not sure whether to believe it wasn't 100% the pilot's fault or not. I'm not saying he purposely did it; just that he probably could have done something about it to prevent the impact. Still, I don't think it's his fault. He probably could have done something but the alternative was likely worse. For instance, would you rather crash into a small ferris wheel or a crowded midway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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