October 1, 2011
SYDNEY (AFP) - A small plane crashed into a ferris wheel at a small town fair in Australia on Saturday and was left dangling from the structure with its pilot and passenger trapped inside, authorities said.
Two children, a boy and a girl, who were on the ride at the time of the accident were rescued unharmed, police said.
"The ultra-light Cheetah S200 is currently stuck in the ferris wheel. The pilot and passenger were not injured in the crash," New South Wales police said in a statement.
Police and emergency services were working to stabilise the ride at the Old Bar Festival at Taree, about 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of Sydney, and rescue the people from the plane.
The plane, which apparently failed to clear the ferris wheel shortly after taking off from a nearby grass airstrip, is reportedly leaking fuel.
"I thought 'Christ he's low, he's coming in low over that' and next thing bang he went straight into it," one woman told the broadcaster ABC.
Another man said the plane clipped the ferris wheel with a "big crunch".
"It's pretty bizarre. I guess ferris wheels are stronger than they look," Rimian Perkins told ABC Online.
