Grass is greener for pilot in forced landing

Pilot Bob Grimstead made an emergency landing at The Links Kennedy Bay.

Picture: Neil Mulligan

A LIGHT plane was forced to make an emergency landing on the driving range at a Port Kennedy golf club yesterday after its engine cut out during acrobatics.

The Links Kennedy Bay trainee golf professional Michael Cunman said there was no warning of the emergency, with the plane circling overhead before landing without incident on the driving range about 12pm.

“One person was using the driving range at the time and was a bit shocked, as were some people in the car park,” he said.

“There was no noise; I didn’t hear the plane in the shop.”

The plane was a Fournier RF-4D with a 1200cc Volkswagen engine.

Pilot Bob Grimstead (43) said he was doing acrobatics above the sea and Long Point, and during a roll, the engine stalled.

Mr Grimstead said he tried to restart it with no luck and radioed a mayday before choosing the golf course as the only clear area of land nearby on which to land.

Mr Cunman said the pilot was “perfectly fine” when he got out of the plane and there was no damage to the plane or the driving range.

The pilot was the only person on board.

A spokesman for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said they would not investigate the incident.

A Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokesman said the body would review the incident from a regulatory point of view.

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