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

  • Upgrades to Fort McMurray airport will aid Canada’s oil industry
    August 21, 2013
    Canada’s vast tar sands operation is providing a major financial boost to the country and this industry has relied heavily on Fort McMurray airport. Situated in Alberta, Fort McMurray is a remote town that has seen a huge expansion following the upturn in activity in the tar sands operations nearby. Although the massive resource has been worked for decades, only in the last 15 years or so have new extraction methods made the operation truly economic. Since 2010 Fort McMurray’s population has increas
  • The use of concrete cutting tools and tips for users
    October 8, 2015
    Despite the proven importance of identifying metal targets and electrical lines before cutting into concrete, every day there are stories about mishaps that happen when the necessary reconnaissance is not done. In this article, a few firms that provide concrete scanning services weigh in on the critical importance of locating embedded and or buried obstructions by scanning for these features using ground penetrating radar (GPR). Also offered are tips for selecting the best GPR equipment and best practices f
  • Are drones homing in on road construction?
    August 4, 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. The logic is that a drone remains withi
  • Safety barriers improve highway safety
    July 3, 2012
    Highway safety could yet improve using available technology more widely Safety barriers still offer huge opportunities to improve accident statistics worldwide. There is a wide array of products on the market to suit all types of installation and with a diverse range of solutions for each application. Highway authorities have been installing barriers for many years now and the technology continues to improve, however an analysis of accident statistics shows that barriers offer further potential. Details fr