An investigation is underway after a 63-year-old man was killed in a light plane crash south of Darwin. Emergency crews responded to the crash yesterday, rescuing a 29-year-old woman from crocodile-inhabited waters.
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00:00Around 10am yesterday morning, police first received reports that a light aircraft, now
00:08understood to be an ultralight plane, had crashed into an area of wetlands south of
00:13Darwin.
00:14A search and rescue operation was then mobilised involving police, ambulance crews, aeromedical
00:19teams and rangers, with the body of a 63-year-old man, believed to be the pilot, recovered from
00:25the wreckage, along with a 29-year-old woman, who police say was uninjured.
00:30She was airlifted from the wreckage and taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for assessment.
00:34The light plane went down into Fog Dam, which is an area of wetlands outside of Darwin.
00:40It's surrounded by heavy bushland and is a known crocodile habitat.
00:44According to St John Ambulance, the aircraft was submerged in the dam and during what they
00:49said was a difficult rescue effort, the aircraft first had to be reached by rangers via boat
00:55before the lone survivor could be lifted out of the wreckage via helicopter.
00:59The investigation is in its very early stages, with NT Police having declared the area a
01:03crime scene as they conduct their inquiries.
01:06Because the aircraft is understood to be an ultralight aircraft, the circumstances of
01:10the crash may be further investigated by the Authority for Recreational rather than Commercial
01:15Flights.
01:16Last year, 27 people died in 20 crashes of similar aircraft around Australia, with aviation
01:23experts just this month calling for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to take a more active
01:28role in those investigations.