It gets more bizzare...
From NineMSN this morning - not exactly a 'factual' report:
Girl watches man jump from doomed plane
Monday Feb 5 04:00 AEDT
By ninemsn staff
A 9-year-old girl has told police she saw a man jump out of a light plane to his death moments before the aircraft went down off the NSW north coast yesterday.
"I saw the plane go past and do a big circle and then someone jumped out before it crashed into the water," said Bobbi-Jay Fairlie, who was out walking her dog on Casuarina Beach at the time of the crash.
"I ran straight home real fast to tell my mum and dad. I was scared and sad."
Police believe the pilot was the only person on board when the plane crashed near Casuarina Beach at Kingscliff about 4.30pm (AEDT) Sunday, The Courier Mail reports.
One body, believed to be the pilot, has been recovered from the water, but a search was continuing in the area yesterday.
Bobby-Jay's father was among a group of Casuarina locals who swam out through rough surf looking for survivors after the crash.
"I swam past part of the wing — I could taste and smell the fuel in the water," Fairlie said.
Brent Lambert, another Casuarina resident, was eating dinner when he saw the plane "coming down over the trees at a 45-degree angle towards the ocean".
"It was coming down on a sharp angle. It was coming down hard and fast," Lambert told the Courier.
"We heard a massive splash and ran straight down here (to the beach) to look for survivors and wreckage. I rang Triple 0 and went straight into the ocean."
"We didn't see anyone but there was a lot of debris — all the seat covers and safety gear were scattered through the water."
Surf lifesavers on jetskis and rubber boats found wreckage and a body shortly after the plane went down.
Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokeswoman Michelle Harris said the pilot reported engine problems shortly before the light plane, which had taken off at Coolangatta Airport on the Gold Coast, plunged into the ocean.
Air crash investigators are expected on the scene this morning.
Condolences to the family.