A Guy In An Australian Mining Town Used A Light Plane To Drive To The Pub

Western Australian police are scanning the law books to see if a man, described as a “local character”, will be charged after he used a light plane to taxi down the main street of a Pilbara mining town to get to the pub on Friday afternoon. 

 The 37-year-old local man parked the wingless Beechcraft single engine two-seater aircraft outside the Newman Hotel about 2.30pm in what The West Australian newspaper says may have been a Halloween prank.

The bloke parked the plane outside the pub, then went in for a drink. Police arrived soon after and questioned him – he passed a breath test – with Newman police Sgt Mark Garner saying they were investigating whether if an offence had been committed. Police have CCTV footage of the incident and the plane was towed from the carpark. Newman, is about 1200km north of Perth, and home to more than 4000 people.

WA Police showed a sense of humor in dealing with the incident.

Perhaps it’s something in the water in Australia’s west, since the weekend also saw a 26-year-old jumped into the ocean to climb aboard a dead whale surrounded by feasting sharks.

Story, comments and photo:   http://www.businessinsider.com.au

Photo: The light aircraft was parked outside a Newman pub after apparently being driven along the main street. (Supplied: Newman Police)

A 37-year-old man who witnesses said taxied his plane down the main street of a Pilbara town to get to the pub has been spoken to by police.

Police were called to the Newman Hotel about 2:00pm on Friday.

Witnesses told police the light aircraft, with its propeller running, had been driven from one end of town to the other.

The aircraft did not have wings.

Newman Sergeant Mark Garner said the incident was being treated very seriously because there were children walking home from school at the time.

He said police had CCTV footage and were speaking with the plane's owner.

"When we arrived we found a Beechcraft two seater prop-driven plane parked in one of the bays," Sergeant Garner said.

"There was no-one there. The wings were off the plane.

"We made some inquires with some of the people in the pub and witnesses nearby and ended up speaking to a 37-year-old male."

He said the fact that the plane did not have a steering wheel made the situation very dangerous, and the propeller could also have caused significant damage.

"The danger obviously taxiing a prop plane down Newman Drive, bearing in mind that kids have just come out of school," he said.

"It's a busy Friday afternoon. I know it's Newman but we do get a fair bit of traffic."

Witnesses have been asked to contact police.

- Source:   http://www.abc.net.au