LAKE EILDON, Victoria — A woman is missing and feared dead after a light aircraft crashed in Goughs Bay – near Mountain Bay around 12.30pm today.
A search for the aircraft and missing woman are ongoing as the pilot escaped the crash with only minor injuries. He was picked up by a passing fishing boat.
Mansfield and local police, CFA and
Water police search and rescue officers joined the search, arriving at Mountain Bay about
The State Emergency Service has also sent two units and a lighting trailer to aid in the rescue effort.
The search may be restricted overnight due to bad lighting.
A fisherman enjoying a day on the lake with his son told the Sunday Herald Sun he saw the aircraft moments before the crash.
He said he saw the ultralight flying dangerously close to the water shortly after midday.
“The plane was maybe a metre and a half above the water, and he was going very fast,” he said.
“He was so close I could see his grin, and I remember saying: ‘This guy’s going to have an accident.’
“I could see the pilot and another woman on board — she looked around the same age as the man and she may have been strapped to the aircraft.”
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) have been notified.
- More to come
Image courtesy ABC News.
