This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

A light aircraft carrying three passengers plummeted almost 1220 metres in the Blue Mountains on Saturday, landing in a Lawson resident’s front garden, after a quick-thinking pilot used a parachute during an emergency.



The pilot crash-landed the aeroplane, described by witnesses as a Cessna-type aircraft, saving all on board in what one rescue official said was a miraculous escape.

Footage of the incident taken on a mobile phone and uploaded to YouTube shows the light aircraft falling rapidly under a huge red and white parachute. As it passes the tree line, it can be heard crashing into the ground.

The aircraft had been descending silently before it landed and brought down power lines.

Neither the pilot nor his three male passengers were seriously injured. One man was taken to Nepean Hospital after complaining of neck and back pain. There was no fire or explosion on impact.

“It was miraculous,” Fire and Rescue NSW Superintendent Steven Baker said.

“Officers have been told the pilot was forced to deploy the aircraft’s parachute at 4000 feet following an emergency incident,” police said. “Police are continuing their inquiries to establish the exact circumstances surrounding the incident.”