Light plane almost crashes into residential neighbourhood in Sydney

Of all the words you do not want to hear your partner say, perhaps “Mayday, mayday,” when they are piloting a plane you are flying in are top of the list. But that was the situation one incredibly lucky couple found themselves in this weekend when the light plane they were flying in narrowly missed crashing into a residential area in Sydney, Australia.

Mayday, mayday. Mike Yankee Whisky, engine problem.

Pilot Jake Swanepoel told the control tower

Jake Swanepoel and his partner Karin were inside the small Cessna 210 craft when its engines lost power during a flight on Sunday 26 May 2024 at around 2:00 pm. At the controls, Jake who has over 29 years of experience as a pilot according to reports, was forced to glide towards Bankstown Airport in the city’s southwest. 

Footage from CNN affiliate Nine News shows the aircraft drifting dangerously close to trees and suburban rooftops. In fact, the plane came so close to crashing, the pilot made the decision to retract the landing gear to allow a little more room as it skimmed buildings near the airport. He can be heard making an emergency communication with relative calm: “Mayday, mayday,” he tells the airport’s control tower, “Mike Yankee Whisky, engine problem.”

It was gliding, there was no power. We clipped the trees, and we just made it over the hangar.

Pilot Jake Swanepoel told Nine News

After narrowly avoiding a collision, the plane made a hard landing onto one of Bankstown’s three runways. Without its landing gear, it skidded for several seconds on its belly and came to a halt tilted on its side on an area of grass. Two people identified by The Independent as ground staff, can then be seen running towards the aircraft and beckoning Swanepoel and his partner Karin to alight. A small dog also ran towards the plane.

The couple escaped unharmed and told press that, although it was frightening, their main thoughts were with the people in the homes they passed over. “It was scary and nerve-wracking because you were thinking about all these homes… if you don’t make the runway,” Karin said.

Further information will now be collected by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau in order to determine whether further investigation of the incident is needed. That process will include a report from the pilot, who seemed in good spirits when he spoke to reporters, saying he would celebrate the miraculous landing by doing “nothing, just be alive.”