Group of five emus cause pilot to "belly-flop" plane about 400km from Adelaide
The ill-fated Cessna 441 aircraft, which landed with landing gear retracted. SOURCE: Australian Safety Transport Bureau
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A GROUP of emus on a rural landing strip in South Australia's north-east distracted a pilot who was forced to make a "belly flop" landing in September this year, an Australian Government report has found.
A Cessna 441 plane with eight passengers on board made a wheels-up landing on September 3, after it departed Adelaide on a routine charter flight to the Honeymoon aeroplane landing area, about 400km from Adelaide.
It was the pilot's third return flight to Honeymoon, a uranium mine, that day.
The aircraft was en route to Honeymoon from Adelaide.
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But while on route to the destination, the pilot did not lower the landing gear.
Australian Transport Safety Bureau assistant general manager strategic capability Joe Hattley said the wheels did not have time to come out as a result of the pilot forgetting to lower the landing gear.
"As he was going through his final approach ... he was distracted by emus," he said.
"It is a fairly open area, there was a check to make sure the runway was clear (but) he spotted some emus ... (and) forgot to put the landing gear down."
The pilot was distracted by emus while landing, according to the report.
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Mr Hattley said it was called a "belly landing" or "wheels up landing".
"So it damaged the bottom of the aircraft," he said.
Mr Hattley said no one was injured, but it was lodged as an incident because of the level of damage to the bottom of the plane.
In the report, the pilot said the landing gear warning horn did not sound.
Mr Hattley said the report reminded pilots about the possible distractions while flying and prevent them from happening.
"It (belly flop landings) happen from time to time," he said.
The report states: "This incident highlights the impact distractions can have on aircraft operations, particularly during a critical phase of flight."
Research conducted by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found that distractions were a normal part of everyday flying and pilots generally responded to distractions quickly and efficiently.
"It also revealed that 13 per cent of accidents and incidents associated with pilot distraction between January 1997 and September 2004 occurred during the approach phase of flight," the report read.
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