Horatio Leafblower
22nd Feb 2011, 05:27
From the ABC (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/22/3145774.htm):
Pilot crash-lands, swims in croc-infested river
By Bridget Brennan
Updated 1 hour 26 minutes ago
Marlee Ranacher
Marlee Ranacher survived after crash-landing a light plane next to the Victoria River in the NT. (Bullo River Station (http://www.bulloriver.com))
* Map: Darwin 0800
A pilot has been rescued by her husband in a helicopter after she crash-landed her plane and had to swim through a crocodile-infested river in the Northern Territory.
Marlee Ranacher, 49, took-off in a single-engine Cessna from the Bullo River Station, about 800 kilometres south-west of Darwin, when the engine failed about 7.30am.
She made an emergency landing on a mud flat near the edge of the Victoria River.
She walked about one kilometre up the bank but due to the incoming tide she was forced to swim across the river, a known habitat for saltwater crocodiles.
"That was the worst part, swimming across," she told the ABC.
"I've lived here my whole life and I know how many crocodiles there are down here and how big they are so that was really bad because I had time to think about that.
"There was one very small one, I must admit, when I got to the bank.
"He was only about a foot long though, so I didn't mind him."
She then set off an emergency beacon, which was picked up by authorities who notified her helicopter pilot husband.
He flew to her location and found her safe and well on the banks of the river.
"I'm really sad I lost the plane but I'm glad I am alive," she said.
She said the Cessna was fully submerged by the incoming tide.
"We've got eight metre tides down here on the Vic, they're just huge and the tide changes so violently it causes like a wall of water.
"You could surf it, it's like having a big wave coming up the river.
"Within half an hour of the tide turning I couldn't see the plane anymore."
Brevet Sergeant Michael Lunney said: "This could have ended tragically but due to her fast thinking, flying experience and activation of her beacon, not only was she rescued swiftly, but by her husband no less."
It was 1997 that I last saw it but that was a nice C185 if I remember correctly? :sad:
Pilot crash-lands, swims in croc-infested river
By Bridget Brennan
Updated 1 hour 26 minutes ago
Marlee Ranacher
Marlee Ranacher survived after crash-landing a light plane next to the Victoria River in the NT. (Bullo River Station (http://www.bulloriver.com))
* Map: Darwin 0800
A pilot has been rescued by her husband in a helicopter after she crash-landed her plane and had to swim through a crocodile-infested river in the Northern Territory.
Marlee Ranacher, 49, took-off in a single-engine Cessna from the Bullo River Station, about 800 kilometres south-west of Darwin, when the engine failed about 7.30am.
She made an emergency landing on a mud flat near the edge of the Victoria River.
She walked about one kilometre up the bank but due to the incoming tide she was forced to swim across the river, a known habitat for saltwater crocodiles.
"That was the worst part, swimming across," she told the ABC.
"I've lived here my whole life and I know how many crocodiles there are down here and how big they are so that was really bad because I had time to think about that.
"There was one very small one, I must admit, when I got to the bank.
"He was only about a foot long though, so I didn't mind him."
She then set off an emergency beacon, which was picked up by authorities who notified her helicopter pilot husband.
He flew to her location and found her safe and well on the banks of the river.
"I'm really sad I lost the plane but I'm glad I am alive," she said.
She said the Cessna was fully submerged by the incoming tide.
"We've got eight metre tides down here on the Vic, they're just huge and the tide changes so violently it causes like a wall of water.
"You could surf it, it's like having a big wave coming up the river.
"Within half an hour of the tide turning I couldn't see the plane anymore."
Brevet Sergeant Michael Lunney said: "This could have ended tragically but due to her fast thinking, flying experience and activation of her beacon, not only was she rescued swiftly, but by her husband no less."
It was 1997 that I last saw it but that was a nice C185 if I remember correctly? :sad: