Pilots swim to shore after plane crashes off Fraser Island

Two pilots are lucky to be alive after their light plane plummeted into the ocean near Fraser Island.

Pilot Gerry Geltch, 66, and his student trainee, 22, were practising emergency landings when the pair lost rudder control and were forced to ditch the Air Fraser aircraft around 150 metres from shore.

Emergency crews were called to Fraser Island’s Happy Valley, about midway along the island’s eastern shore, where Geltch and his trainee were assessed for minor injuries.

“With an exit out of the water … you’ve really got to keep cool about it,” Geltch told 7News. “We kicked the doors open as the aeroplane was going down and we exited.”

A rescue helicopter picked them up from Fraser Island and flew them to a hospital on the mainland after the pair swam to shore in the company of a surfer who reportedly paddled out to help.

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“Officers from emergency services attended and were able to swim out to the aircraft and provide assistance to the two occupants who were in the aircraft, and they were brought safely to shore,” inspector Tony Clowes from Maryborough police patrol group said, as reported by ABC News.

“In the circumstances, the outcome here was as good as can be expected.”

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is yet to decide if it will investigate the crash.

“The ATSB has been notified of a reported ditching of a Cessna 206 light aircraft near Fraser Island, Queensland,” a spokesperson for the bureau said.

“The ATSB is gathering further information into the circumstances of the occurrence ahead of determining whether to conduct a transport safety investigation.”

Wreckage of missing light plane located north of Moreton Island

Meanwhile, Queensland Police have advised the wreckage of a light plane that crashed in Moreton Bay on 22 January has been located by water police and members of the dive squad.

The Cessna 182 aircraft was carrying two passengers believed to be deceased – a 70-year-old pilot and his 52-year-old female passenger – but their bodies have not been recovered.

The wreckage was located around 2:30pm in approximately 36 meters of water north of Moreton Island.

The pair, both from Wakerley, had departed in a hired light aircraft from Caloundra at around 3:30pm for a scenic flight of Moreton Island.

Police will prepare a report for the coroner.

The aircraft was owned by Michael and Amy Rowe of Little Mountain, who reportedly hired it out to the couple.

“We are absolutely heartbroken for the family,” Rowe said last week, as reported by ABC News.

Featured image: Air Fraser plane crashes near Fraser Island (Facebook/Fifty Shades of Fraser Island)

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Air Fraser Airplane crash fraser island moreton island Queensland Police