Skip to main content

Parking problem

An Australian couple caused something of a parking problem with their vehicle in a quiet residential Sydney side-street. The issue was that their vehicle should have been in the air rather than on the ground, as it was a single engine Piper aircraft.
February 27, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
An Australian couple caused something of a parking problem with their vehicle in a quiet residential Sydney side-street. The issue was that their vehicle should have been in the air rather than on the ground, as it was a single engine Piper aircraft. The incident occurred when the couple encountered engine problems during a routine flight and although they tried to land their aircraft at a nearby airport, the aeroplane lost height too quickly as it lost power and soon proved unable to reach the airport. As the pilot struggled to maintain altitude, the Piper clipped some power lines, shearing off a wing and then tumbled upside down into the street, much to the alarm of the local residents.

Luckily the couple, and their dog, were able to scramble from the aircraft and nor did the Piper catch fire or were any other people injured in the crash. However, as the aircraft hit the power lines it did cut off electricity to around 7,000 homes and eight sets of traffic lights in the vicinity, causing additional traffic disturbance. The couple were taken to hospital following the incident for medical checks but were later allowed to leave having only suffered minor cuts and bruises. The dog was not able to comment on its traumatic descent or on its willingness to face future flights.

Related Content

  • PPRS Nice 2018: maintenance moves mountains
    June 22, 2018
    Strategic maintenance was a major theme at the second Pavement Preservation and Recycling Summit in Nice, France. The world is changing, mobility is changing and so roads must change and adapt for the future.” With this brief statement, Jacques Tavernier opened the second PPRS Summit. “At the same time there is a growing awareness of poor or non-existent maintenance for highways. The question for this conference is how to adapt road maintenance in the face of this challenge,” said Tavernier, in his role as
  • Drones in construction, the future of surveying?
    August 21, 2015
    It may be early days for using drones – unmanned aerial systems (UAS) -- to map construction sites, but technology and legislation are moving in that direction. At the moment drones can fly within only a 500m radius of the ‘pilot’ standing on the ground, making the flight area a 1km diameter. This is the key limiting issue for any sector, especially road construction, says Jonathan Gill, a robotics engineer and a qualified drone pilot for the past seven years.
  • Mullum Mullum Valley untouched by progress
    July 20, 2012
    Preserving the unspoiled Mullum Mullum Valley was the major consideration when deciding to build a traffic tunnel The answer to one of the major issues facing construction of the A$2.5 billion EastLink route in Australia was simple: construct a tunnel. While it was expensive, those involved realised they had little option but to go underground to protect the environmentally sensitive Mullum Mullum Valley, an untouched area of wood and bushland in Melbourne. EastLink, the 39km toll road project on the easter
  • Bent sportscars
    May 24, 2013
    The Japanese authorities are investigating a crash that involved a large number of expensive sportscars last year. Six people were injured in thecrash although luckily there were no fatalities. The incident resulted in damage costing some US$4 million and involved 10 high performance cars, as well as one rather more conventional vehicle. Footage of the incident shot afterwards showed the damaged Ferraris lying along the highway, with broken body panels strewn across the roadway.