Pilot did not see fair ride

Light plane that crashed into Ferries Wheel at Old Bar, near Taree on the NSW North Coast, 1 October 2011. The pilot and passenger of the light plane sit strapped in their seats as two children stuck on the Ferris Wheel watch on. Photo Carl Muxlow/Manning River Times

Strapped in … the pilot and passenger of the light plane wait for help. Photo: Carl Muxlow

THE pilot of a light plane that crashed into a ferris wheel on the mid-north coast said he did not see the fairground ride before his aircraft slammed into it.

”I just went to take off, do a go-around and I didn’t even see the ferris wheel there,” Paul Cox said. ”Nose up and straight into, and next thing I know I was stuck inside the ferris wheel.”

The aircraft became stuck on the ride, 10 metres in the air, for about 90 minutes.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Recreational Aviation Australia are conducting separate investigations into the accident, which happened on Saturday morning at a fairground in the township of Old Bar, near Taree.

Amazingly, neither Mr Cox, his 32-year-old male passenger, nor any of the children on the ferris wheel were hurt.

Amber Arndell was among those on the ride.

”When I turned around there was just this big plane right behind me,” the 13-year-old said. ”I was so scared.”

The president of the Old Bar Beach Festival, Cozette Leonard, said the pilot clipped a tree before hitting the ferris wheel.

”He hit a tree, wobbled, pulled out to sea and that’s when he crashed into the ferris wheel,” Ms Leonard said.

”It’s just a miracle. It could’ve been worse.”

AAP

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