Cheetah Sierra-200, Old Bar Ferris Wheel, NSW, Australia
S 31° 58.195 E 152° 35.460
56J E 461355 N 6462825
On Saturday, 1 October, 2011, during the 3-day Old Bar Festival, a Morgan Aero Works Cheetah Sierra 200 was piloted into a Ferris wheel that was in its flight path. Amazingly, with 4 people directly involved NONE were injured.
Waymark Code: WMN06Q
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 12/01/2014
Views: 4
The pilot of the 'ultralight', Paul Cox (53*), and his passenger, son-in-law John Rowan (32*), had flown from the Taree airport to the Old Bar airstrip, but on trying to land decided to 'go around' for another attempt. *Ages as at the date of the accident*
From the ATSB report as reported by SBS April 2014: "During a second attempt at landing at Old Bar airstrip on the NSW mid-north coast, the pilot felt he was travelling too fast and would overshoot the runway.
So he hit the throttle to again get airborne, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said in its final report of the incident, released on Thursday.
The pilot then recalls hearing a loud bang.
That was the sound of the Sierra hitting the 20m tall Ferris wheel."
Luckily there was only 4 people on the Ferris Wheel at the time of the crash, but two children were quite close to the mangled wreck that hung through the damaged Ferris Wheel some 10 m off the ground.
Amber Arndell (13*) and her autistic brother, Jessie (10*) were slightly higher than the plane, and for a couple of hours were looking directly at the trapped pilot and passenger until rescued - uninjured, but shocked!
The Old Bar Festival organisers acknowledged that the Ferris Wheel should not have been placed so close to the flight path of the air strip, and in Festivals since then the air strip has been closed during those times of the yearly Festivals.
Web Address for Related Web Sites: [Web Link]
Date of Crash: 10/01/2011
Aircraft Model: Morgan Aero Works Cheetah Sierra 200
Military or Civilian: Civilian
Cause of Crash:
From AAP:
The pilot did not have the "required competencies" to hold a private pilot certificate, the ATSB found.
He obtained a student licence in 1987 and had not undergone further assessment for some 23 years.
It was also deemed that the set-up of the Ferris wheel at the Old Bar Beach Festival "resulted in a high level of unmanaged risk".
Tail Number: Not listed
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