Pilot pulled from crumpled plane
2 June 2008, 07:14
By Browyn Gerretsen
At first sight, paramedics and witnesses thought the worst. The plane lay crumpled on the landing strip and, from the extent of its damage, no one could imagine that the pilot would still be alive.
But 68-year-old Noel Drew, of Cowie's Hill, was alive and last night was in a stable condition in hospital.
His RV-6 plane crashed just before landing on a friend's Assegay farm on Sunday morning. The power cables lying just metres from the crash site were evidence of the plane clipping them while landing, but a wind-shear may have caused it to hit the cables.
Civil Aviation Authority officials were expected to inspect the plane on Sunday night or on Monday.
A neighbour, Rob Galway, and his grandson, Bryce, were first on the scene and they rescued Drew. Galway said he had been in his workshop when he had heard the plane flying low, in preparation for landing.
"I then heard a terrible crash... I grabbed my fire extinguisher and my grandson and I jumped into the car and drove (to the site)," he said.
The pair, Bryce abandoning his crutches, climbed through the property fence. The 20-year-old lifted the plane while his grandfather unbuckled Drew and pulled him out. Galway said he was "half-conscious".
"When we got to the plane, I thought he was dead. He wasn't moving and his head was stuck between the seat and the ground," said Bryce.
Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said he was amazed that Drew was still alive. "He had pain in his upper left leg and severe pain in his abdomen cavity and chest," he said.
Botha said Drew had been conscious and told him he had felt okay. He was taken to St Augustine's Hospital, where he was said to have been in a stable condition.
Drew and a friend had been flying their own aircraft back from a flying club meeting at Oribi Airport.
bronwyn.gerretsen@inl.co.za
At first sight, paramedics and witnesses thought the worst. The plane lay crumpled on the landing strip and, from the extent of its damage, no one could imagine that the pilot would still be alive.
But 68-year-old Noel Drew, of Cowie's Hill, was alive and last night was in a stable condition in hospital.
His RV-6 plane crashed just before landing on a friend's Assegay farm on Sunday morning. The power cables lying just metres from the crash site were evidence of the plane clipping them while landing, but a wind-shear may have caused it to hit the cables.
Civil Aviation Authority officials were expected to inspect the plane on Sunday night or on Monday.
A neighbour, Rob Galway, and his grandson, Bryce, were first on the scene and they rescued Drew. Galway said he had been in his workshop when he had heard the plane flying low, in preparation for landing.
"I then heard a terrible crash... I grabbed my fire extinguisher and my grandson and I jumped into the car and drove (to the site)," he said.
The pair, Bryce abandoning his crutches, climbed through the property fence. The 20-year-old lifted the plane while his grandfather unbuckled Drew and pulled him out. Galway said he was "half-conscious".
"When we got to the plane, I thought he was dead. He wasn't moving and his head was stuck between the seat and the ground," said Bryce.
Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said he was amazed that Drew was still alive. "He had pain in his upper left leg and severe pain in his abdomen cavity and chest," he said.
Botha said Drew had been conscious and told him he had felt okay. He was taken to St Augustine's Hospital, where he was said to have been in a stable condition.
Drew and a friend had been flying their own aircraft back from a flying club meeting at Oribi Airport.
bronwyn.gerretsen@inl.co.za
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Mercury on June 02, 2008
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