Light plane makes ‘beautiful’ emergency landing on Sydney beach.

Wed 26 May, 2021

The pilot, his wife and their one-year-old son were uninjured when the plane landed on Collaroy beach in Sydney’s north. 

A young family has had a lucky escape after their light plane was forced to make an emergency landing on a Sydney beach. The plane landed at Collaroy on Sydney’s northern beaches about 2pm on Wednesday.

The pilot was flying with his wife and their one-year-old son when the aircraft experienced engine trouble, NSW Ambulance said. All three were uninjured. The plane landed a few hundred metres from people walking on the beach, an eyewitness told 2GB radio. 

“It’s a beautiful, quiet day – not a cloud in the sky – and what happens? This plane just floats past us,” the man said. It was “really close and really low, losing altitude really fast, and landed beautifully on the beach”. 

Insp Dave Stubbs said the trio was extremely lucky to land safely and it was fortunate no one was walking on the stretch of sand that became their makeshift runway. “You always think the worst when a plane is involved but thankfully they were able to land safely on the beach and there were no injuries sustained by those on board,” he said in a statement. 

Recreational Aviation Australia will investigate the incident. 

First published in The Guardian, Wed 26 May, 2021, through Australian Associated Press