Lucky 6 walk away from Rotto crash

Six people are lucky to be alive after their plane crashed into a salt lake at Rottnest Island yesterday.

The six seater Piper Cherokee was about 3m above the ground after take off when it nose dived into scrub and then landed in the middle of the lake.

The five passengers and pilot panicked when water flooded into the plane and they were initially unable to remove their seat belts and open the plane door.

"I thought I was going to die," said Stefan Burtnyk of Joondalup.

"I had water up to my chest and we were trapped inside the plane because I couldn't open the door.

Both wings were missing and the wheel is now sitting on top of the plane-- that's how bad the crash was.

"We were still moving through the water when it start to flood in and when we stopped, it started to flood very quickly. That's when we started to panic, and there was a bit of shouting going on at that point.

"We didn't know how deep the lake was so we were relieved when we finally got out and found it was only waist deep."

Authorities are investigating the reasons for the crash but the group which had been on a day trip at the island, believe the strong winds might have caused it. Trent Osborne of Victoria Park said violent wind caused the plane to shake before it even took off the from the runway at 4.10pm.

"We were joking around about how windy it was, but we didn't expect to have a wet landing," he said.

""We were a bit nervous because the plane was shaking and wobbling."

More than 100 litres of aviation fuel, which spilt into the lake, was burnt off to prevent serious pollution.

The pilot stayed on the island yesterday afternoon, but the passengers caught the 5.30 ferry back to the mainland after being examined by the island's medical staff.

They escaped relatively unharmed, with only a few bumps and bruises.

Although shaken up they were in good spirits and praised the pilot for handling the situation well.

"We walked away from the crash and that's all you can ask for,"Mr Osborne said.

""It's great to be alive."



The Sunday Times, Perth, December 9, 2001.

It certainly was windy. The wind in question is called the Fremantle Doctor, a powerful blow which picks up in the late afternoon. It is called the doctor because it keeps things cool in the hot mid summer months and blows away the cobwebs (as well as anything else that isn't nailed down). Katy called it a lazy wind because, as they say in Norfolk, "that don't go 'round you, that go straight through you!" When we first arrived in Perth, far from finding it hot, we thought it was surprisingly cold, thanks to the Fremantle Doctor.

While cycling round Rottnest Island sometimes it was harder to go along flat roads in the teeth of the wind, than it was to go up the very steep hills. The tree pictured above shows how windy the island was. On the ferry back to Fremantle (like the party whose plane crashed we caught the 5.30) we had a bumpy ride and the spray drenched the hardy souls like Katy who stood on the deck. It was an exciting ride.
Aboriginals Cadell Ferry Diary