Chipmunk incident – Australia

Extract from the Newcastle(Australia) Herald Saturday 15th November 2014Pair lucky to get out alive
Controlled crash landing after engine stops
By SAM RIGNEY
POLICE say two men are lucky to be alive after the engine in their vintage plane stalled while they were doing laps of the Luskintyre Airfield.
The two men, believed to be test pilots, were flying a DHC-1 Chipmunk aircraft over the airstrip when the engine stalled at about 600 metres (2000 feet).
A Central Hunter police spokesman said the pilot attempted to ‘‘wash off speed’’ during the descent and attempted to avoid going into a nose dive.
‘‘The pilot has done a very skilled job so that they have both been able to survive,’’ the spokesman said.
‘‘The engine stalled and they tried to wash off speed, but also be able to land the aircraft on the airstrip with no power control. They have done a good job to come in at the right speed and the right location; it’s not as if they could have flown around again and had another go at landing it.
‘‘It was a controlled crash and not a nose dive, they landed hard, there is no risk about that, but it could have been a lot worse.’’
The plane landed heavily and crashed through a fence about 500 metres south of the airstrip at about 1pm.
The men – a 39-year-old from Windella and a 33-yearold from Taree – were treated at the scene for arm, chest and back injuries before being flown by Westpac rescue helicopter to John Hunter Hospital. A Hunter New England Health spokeswoman said the men were in a stable condition.
Police secured the scene and conducted a thorough examination of the crash site. Police are not treating the crash as suspicious.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has been notified.