AN emergency light plane landing in Oberon on August 25 is set to become the subject of an upcoming 60 Minutes episode.
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The dramatic mid-air emergency occurred on a routine charter flight from Sydney’s Bankstown Airport to Cowra.
Just before 3pm, the 23-year-old pilot, James Chandler, radioed in to say: “My passenger’s trying to take over ... woah, woah.”
Police will allege during the flight an incident occurred in the small cockpit of the 1978 Beechcraft Duchess, and the pilot was forced to restrain his 82-year-old passenger.
In a recording of the pilot’s conversation with air traffic controllers obtained by the Western Advocate, the pilot was asked “are you able to regain control of the aircraft?”.
The pilot regained control of the aircraft and made an emergency landing in a paddock at a property known as ‘Bloomfield’ on Titania Road, Oberon.
The incident left the pilot with a knee injury and he was treated for shock at Oberon Hospital, while the elderly man was airlifted to Westmead Hospital with lacerations to his head.
Since the emergency landing, the plane has sat stranded in the paddock, while charter group Basair Aviation College worked on a plan to have the aircraft flown out.
Last Wednesday this finally happened, with the 60 Minutes crew there to film the take-off, and television journalist Peter Overton expected to cover the story.
Just four days after the incident, police charged the man with prejudice the safe operation of an aircraft.
He was given bail to appear at Parramatta Local Court on September 29, 2014.
The elderly man booked the charter flight with Basair Aviation College.
Following the mid-air emergency, Basair Aviation College’s managing director David Trevelyan said the pilot issued an emergency “pan-pan” announcement and then landed safely.
A pan call is when the pilot is in trouble, but not in a life-threatening situation.
“I would like to praise the actions of the pilot. He showed fantastic skill,” Mr Trevelyan said in the days after the emergency.
“He did an excellent job in an amazingly difficult scenario ... and under tremendous pressure.”