Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au
Seven escape injury in plane crash off WA coast
A pilot and six passengers have escaped injury after their light plane crashed off the end of the runway into the ocean at a remote island off the WA coast.
April 6, 2023
Seven people have had a lucky escape after the light plane they were on crashed off the end of the runway and into the ocean at a remote island off the Western Australian coast.
A pilot and six passengers were onboard the Gibbs Airvan GA8 aircraft on Thursday when it overran the runway in the Abrolhos Islands about 8.40am.
“No one was injured but all have been taken to the local nursing post as a precaution,” a WA police spokeswoman said.
The plane ended up partially submerged with the engine in water at the south end of Rat Island.
The Air Transport Safety Bureau will investigate the cause of the crash.
The Houtman Abrolhos archipelago is a chain of 122 islands and coral reefs about 80km west of Geraldton in the Indian Ocean.
The islands, first sighted by Dutch navigator Frederick de Houtman about 400 years ago, are popular with tourists and feature a national park in areas not used by commercial fishers and aquaculture operators.