SkyJetJockey
7th May 2005, 12:58
Machinery operator Rick Bolsterli supplied the Kimberley Echo with these dramatic pictures of a forced landing at Bellburn Airstrip in the Bungles.
The incident happened on Friday when a Broome Aviation scenic flight from Halls Creek developed engine problems over the Bungles.
The young pilot managed to line the stalled aircraft up with the airstrip and make a safe landing on the narrow service track beside the controversial strip.
Neither he nor his passengers were injured and there appeared to be no damage to the aircraft.
His passengers praised his skills and presence of mind.
Rick Bolsterli described what he experienced: "Markus, who was working at the western end of the runway, said over the radio, there was a plane coming in to land.
"The plane appeared to have engine problems.
"At that time the runway was used by machinery and there was not enough free space on it to land a plane.
"The pilot must have seen that there was a narrow service track alongside the runway and did a fantastic job in bringing the plane down on it," Rick said.
The airstrip has been the centre of controversy in recent times after it was closed for an upgrade just as the tourist season was getting underway.
Had the upgrade involved making a temporary strip parallel to the current strip, operations could have continued as normal and a safer emergency landing strip would have been available.
CALM claims this would have been too expensive.
The incident happened on Friday when a Broome Aviation scenic flight from Halls Creek developed engine problems over the Bungles.
The young pilot managed to line the stalled aircraft up with the airstrip and make a safe landing on the narrow service track beside the controversial strip.
Neither he nor his passengers were injured and there appeared to be no damage to the aircraft.
His passengers praised his skills and presence of mind.
Rick Bolsterli described what he experienced: "Markus, who was working at the western end of the runway, said over the radio, there was a plane coming in to land.
"The plane appeared to have engine problems.
"At that time the runway was used by machinery and there was not enough free space on it to land a plane.
"The pilot must have seen that there was a narrow service track alongside the runway and did a fantastic job in bringing the plane down on it," Rick said.
The airstrip has been the centre of controversy in recent times after it was closed for an upgrade just as the tourist season was getting underway.
Had the upgrade involved making a temporary strip parallel to the current strip, operations could have continued as normal and a safer emergency landing strip would have been available.
CALM claims this would have been too expensive.