Crash landing

The Jabiru aircraft ismoved after an emergency landing in a paddock on Stewarts Road, Booyan.

By Zane Jackson

A TEENAGE pilot showed incredible cool under pressure when a mid-air explosion forced him to crash land his plane in farmland - saving the lives of his passenger and himself.

Adam O'Sullivan, 18, sent out a mayday call about 8.40am on Saturday as the explosion splattered oil on to the windscreen of his Jabiru ultra-light.

The landing rocked the home of sisters Sarah and Olivia Maher who rushed out to investigate.

Sarah, 13, said the impact of the crash shook their house at Booyan, near Moore Park.

Both Mr O'Sullivan and passenger Karyna Lenske, 20, were uninjured in the incident that triggered a swift response from police, firefighters and ambulance service.

"I didn't have time to think of fear at the time - I just knew I had to land it safely from where I was."

Those were the words of 18-year-old Bundaberg pilot Adam O'Sullivan, who successfully crash-landed his ultra-light Jabiru aeroplane on farmland off Stewarts Road on Saturday, after his plane suffered complete engine failure.

Emergency services feared the worst when they received Mr O'Sullivan's mayday call at 8.36am, but his cool head under pressure averted what could have been a tragic ending.

"The engine started running rough so I headed back towards the (Booyan) airstrip," Mr O'Sullivan said.

"Then I had catastrophic engine failure - the engine exploded and it sprayed oil over the front windscreen, so I knew I had to land it straight away."

He managed to land the plane on farmland, but the nose wheel collapsed on impact and the plane slid on its belly for about 30m before coming to a stop.

Both Mr O'Sullivan and his 20-year-old passenger Karyna Lenske walked away uninjured from the damaged plane.

"We both have no injuries, and Karyna handled it really well," he said.

"She's a pilot as well so she knew what was going on, which helped the situation."

Emergency services responded immediately and located the crashed plane and both occupants nearby.

Sisters Sarah and Olivia Maher were relaxing at their Stewart Street home when they both heard the plane make its dramatic crash landing.

Olivia, nine, said she heard a massive bang and ran outside to see what happened.

"We heard a big crash and then I ran out onto the road and saw the plane," she said.

"I saw it sliding along the ground... it was really scary."

Older sister Sarah, 13, said: "It was just a big, heavy bang."

"All our doors were shaking really bad, we heard a big bang and we thought something had fallen over inside the house.

"I didn't know it was something outside until I saw her (Olivia) run outside."

The incident will be investigated by Recreational Aviation Australia.