Footage has emerged of the heart-stopping moment a small plane landed after circling an airport for almost four hours to burn fuel after a landing gear failure.
Hero pilot Peter Schott guided his crippled plane onto the runway at Newcastle Airport on Monday, to relieved applause from his two passengers.
Michael Reynolds and his wife Ines, both in their 60s, were on board Eastern Air Services flight XDV from Newcastle to Port Macquarie, on the New South Wales mid-north coast, on Monday morning when things went wrong. .
The plane took off shortly after 8.30am and was only supposed to be in the air for 26 minutes, but shortly after takeoff Schott, 53, realized there was an mid-air emergency.
On Tuesday he said 9News that Mr Reynolds, who was celebrating his 60th birthday, was becoming dizzy during the agonizing hours the plane was in the air, waiting for a safer time to land.
Hero pilot Peter Schott (pictured) guided his crippled plane onto the runway at Newcastle Airport on Monday, to relieved applause from the two passengers on board.
The plane took off shortly after 8.30am and was only supposed to be in the air for 26 minutes, but shortly after takeoff Mr Schott (pictured) realized something was wrong.
As those watching from the control tower and on the ground held their breath, Schott said he felt like a football player making a play.
‘I said to one of my oldest friends and the chief pilot: this is what I think I’m going to do.
“He says, ‘Schotty, I’d do exactly the same thing.’
‘I thought, great. So I had a plan of action.’
Schott also had the ability to remain calm under immense pressure to bring down the twin-engine plane safely, even though its landing gear was crippled by a mechanical problem.
The Reynolds feared they would die on the four-hour terrorist flight, but miraculously no one was hurt when the plane landed at 12:19.
Mr and Mrs Reynolds said they had said goodbye to their loved ones on the flight.
“I thought if we were going to go, at least we were going to go together,” Reynolds told The Morning Show.
“It was scary going down, you just didn’t know what was going to happen.
“The flight itself was like four hours of going around and around, and I don’t recommend it to anyone.”
Mrs Reynolds said the pilot communicated with them throughout the ordeal, but they were preparing for the worst.
“We talk to all our children and send messages to family abroad and friends,” she said.
Michael Reynolds and his wife Ines, both in their 60s, were on board Eastern Air Services flight XDV from Newcastle to Port Macquarie, on the New South Wales mid-north coast, on Monday morning when things went wrong. .
“It was a four-hour near-death experience, it really was – it was preparing your mind for, you know, ‘this is the next step in my life.’
The plane had to make endless circles around Newcastle Airport to burn fuel before landing in the rain.
While still in the air, Mr Reynolds became seriously ill and was “vomiting uncontrollably”, a NSW Ambulance spokesperson was heard saying on a radio call.
Schott achieved a perfect emergency landing to cheers and applause from hundreds of spectators waiting below.
A loud screech was heard as the plane touched down before sliding for about 500 meters and finally coming to a stop.
Surprisingly, the Reynolds are still going on vacation and will fly to Lord Howe Island on Wednesday on a similarly sized plane.
“Maybe this time I’ll just take some pills,” Mr. Reynolds joked.
The incident is now subject to an ATSB (Australian Transport Safety Bureau) investigation.
NSW Police Superintendent Wayne Humphrey praised the pilot’s “textbook” landing and said it “sounded very calm” on the radio.
“The plane’s landing gear didn’t come back down and (the pilot) stayed here and burned fuel,” Superintendent Humphrey said.
“After a few hours in the air…he made a textbook wheels-up landing that I was very happy to see on the runway behind us.”
Hundreds of spectators who had gathered at the airport cheered as the plane made a successful “wheels-up landing” at 12:19 p.m.
The Beech B200 Super King Air plane, which was due to fly from Newcastle to Port Macquarie, flew over Newcastle Airport for almost four hours to burn fuel before attempting
The plane flew over Newcastle Airport for four hours while burning fuel before attempting the dangerous landing in rain and limited visibility.
Superintendent Humphrey added that none of those on board suffered any injuries.
“They (the passengers) got into their car and headed home,” he added.
The airport was closed for 24 hours while an investigation was carried out.
More than a dozen emergency teams, including fire trucks, waited on the tarmac, while an operations room was set up at the adjacent Williamtown RAAF base.
A hero pilot successfully executed a perfect emergency ‘belly landing’ after the landing gear failed on his airliner and they were forced to land wheels up at Newcastle Airport (pictured)