Sunday, August 07, 2011

Student pilot back on the radar after 135km flight from Archerfield airport. Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

A STUDENT pilot who lost his way after taking off from Archerfield airport in Brisbane's southwest was found 135km away by Brisbane Air Traffic Control.

The AGL Action Rescue Helicopter received a distress call abound 12.20pm and dispatched the AGL Action Rescue Helicopter 10 minutes later.

BATC chief pilot Dave Donaldson said it took around 40 minutes to find the young pilot, who had become disoriented as a cloud base came down, causing poor visibility.

After locating the pilot over Moore, west of Kilcoy, the helicopter brought him to ground at the Watts Bridge Airfield, near Toogoolawah, about 1.25pm.

"He was in no immediate danger, but the problem was that he was cut off by the weather and if he'd ended up flying into cloud, that would have presented a lot of difficulties," Mr Donaldson said.

"Also, he might have to do an emergency landing, or else fly around until he ran out of fuel, and have to (do an emergency landing) anyway."

The pilot was attempting a solo navigation to Wondai, about 250km from Archerfield airport and north of Kingaroy.

"The student pilot absolutely did the right thing in radioing for help as soon as he became disorientated," Mr Donaldson said.

"With the young pilot calling in for help in the early stages, we had plenty of time to locate him and lead him to safety, which avoided a potential catastrophe."

Source:  http://www.couriermail.com.au

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