Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 19, 2005 6:34:17 GMT 12
www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3448073a10,00.html
Plane crashes on SH1
19 October 2005
By MIKE WATSON
A Taupo pilot and his cousin survived a fiery crash when a homebuilt plane crash-landed and exploded on State Highway 1.
Little was left of the single engine two-seater Lanceair plane after it burst into flames on impact at Te Rangiita, 20 kilometres south of Taupo, yesterday.
The engine was left lying in the middle of the road, along with the melted and charred remains of the plane body and one wing.
Pilot Simon Creasy, 67, a former Cathay Pacific pilot, and his cousin and passenger Alex Milner-Smith, a 22-year-old London lawyer, were flown to Waikato Hospital by Lion Foundation rescue helicopter with serious burns to their bodies, faces and hands.
Rescuers had used water from nearby Lake Taupo to cool down the burnt men.
Witness William Craig said the plane appeared to lose power. The pilot circled a nearby forest and made the forced landing on the highway.
As it came into land, it clipped power lines and skidded across the road into a power pole, bringing down lines. It then crashed into a hedge, he said.
"By the time I came out of the house the plane was on fire and some people had got the pilot out."
Neighbour Ewen McIntosh was first on the scene after he heard a bang and saw smoke.
"I came out on to the road and saw one man out of the plane and walking around and the other trying to get out of the plane," he said.
Mr McIntosh led the pair to his house about 30 metres away and tried to give them water but the power was cut to his water pump.
"I couldn't use the pump to get any water for them to wash them down with a hose." He took the men to the lake edge and splashed them with water to cool their burns.
Alex Lattey, who was on a bike ride on the lake-front, rushed to help.
"I saw the plane come down and the black smoke and came over to see if anyone was hurt," she said.
"We sprayed them with water for about five to 10 minutes to cool them . . . They were very lucky."
Both men were conscious but in severe pain as ambulance officers from Taupo and Turangi treated them on the beach.
An off-duty Auckland ambulance officer Eion Hicks – who was about to go fishing when he saw smoke from the crash – landed his boat and also went to their aid.
He praised Mr McIntosh and Ms Lattey for their quick actions.
"They did the right thing. They got them to the water and sat them down to cool them off.
"Their actions have lessened injuries in the long term and promoted the recovery of both men. They took the heat out of the injuries."
Mr Creasy's wife Jennifer said her husband had flown for Cathay Pacific for 32 years and was head flying trainer for the airline.
The couple retired in Taupo 12 years ago.
Her husband was a perfectionist and had built the plane himself, she said.
"Nobody knows what happened. My husband may have been trying to glide the plane on to the road but no one knows.
"He was a very skilled pilot."
Mr Creasy and Mr Milner-Smith, who is in New Zealand on holiday, had decided to take a flight to Mt Ruapehu because it was such a spectacular day, Mrs Creasy said.
Both men have third degree burns to their body and hands and and are to have operations today, she said.
Plane crashes on SH1
19 October 2005
By MIKE WATSON
A Taupo pilot and his cousin survived a fiery crash when a homebuilt plane crash-landed and exploded on State Highway 1.
Little was left of the single engine two-seater Lanceair plane after it burst into flames on impact at Te Rangiita, 20 kilometres south of Taupo, yesterday.
The engine was left lying in the middle of the road, along with the melted and charred remains of the plane body and one wing.
Pilot Simon Creasy, 67, a former Cathay Pacific pilot, and his cousin and passenger Alex Milner-Smith, a 22-year-old London lawyer, were flown to Waikato Hospital by Lion Foundation rescue helicopter with serious burns to their bodies, faces and hands.
Rescuers had used water from nearby Lake Taupo to cool down the burnt men.
Witness William Craig said the plane appeared to lose power. The pilot circled a nearby forest and made the forced landing on the highway.
As it came into land, it clipped power lines and skidded across the road into a power pole, bringing down lines. It then crashed into a hedge, he said.
"By the time I came out of the house the plane was on fire and some people had got the pilot out."
Neighbour Ewen McIntosh was first on the scene after he heard a bang and saw smoke.
"I came out on to the road and saw one man out of the plane and walking around and the other trying to get out of the plane," he said.
Mr McIntosh led the pair to his house about 30 metres away and tried to give them water but the power was cut to his water pump.
"I couldn't use the pump to get any water for them to wash them down with a hose." He took the men to the lake edge and splashed them with water to cool their burns.
Alex Lattey, who was on a bike ride on the lake-front, rushed to help.
"I saw the plane come down and the black smoke and came over to see if anyone was hurt," she said.
"We sprayed them with water for about five to 10 minutes to cool them . . . They were very lucky."
Both men were conscious but in severe pain as ambulance officers from Taupo and Turangi treated them on the beach.
An off-duty Auckland ambulance officer Eion Hicks – who was about to go fishing when he saw smoke from the crash – landed his boat and also went to their aid.
He praised Mr McIntosh and Ms Lattey for their quick actions.
"They did the right thing. They got them to the water and sat them down to cool them off.
"Their actions have lessened injuries in the long term and promoted the recovery of both men. They took the heat out of the injuries."
Mr Creasy's wife Jennifer said her husband had flown for Cathay Pacific for 32 years and was head flying trainer for the airline.
The couple retired in Taupo 12 years ago.
Her husband was a perfectionist and had built the plane himself, she said.
"Nobody knows what happened. My husband may have been trying to glide the plane on to the road but no one knows.
"He was a very skilled pilot."
Mr Creasy and Mr Milner-Smith, who is in New Zealand on holiday, had decided to take a flight to Mt Ruapehu because it was such a spectacular day, Mrs Creasy said.
Both men have third degree burns to their body and hands and and are to have operations today, she said.
