EMERGENCY crews were in hot demand on Wednesday responding to an emergency aircraft landing and a car fire – all in the space of an hour.
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A twin engine Cessna 421 was forced to land at Armidale Regional Airport following a complete electrical failure.
The pilot was heading towards Uralla when the fault was discovered.
“The pilot notified Brisbane Centre and they immediately dialed triple zero and then they notified us [the airport],” Armidale Regional Airport Manager Tim Wicks said.
“He only had the magnetos to run the engine, that’s a safety feature and that is always separate no matter what happens.
“Everything else including radios [and] instrumentation – all failed.”
By manually engaging the landing gear, the pilot was able to land safely with police, fire and ambulance on their way.
Everything else including radios [and] instrumentation – all failed.
- Tim Wicks
“It’s a good trial of our emergency procedures which we recently rehearsed and they were here within five minutes of the emergency being declared,” Mr Wicks said.
Minutes later, on the other side of town, a man and his dog were caught up in a car fire.
A green Land Rover Discovery caught alight just outside of Armidale on Rockvale Road.
“It was a mechanical fault and the car caught on fire,” Inspector Matthew Hemsworth told The Express.
Mr Hemsworth said no one was injured and police would not be investigating the incident.
