Wheel of misfortune as aeroplane crashes into fairground ride

The Cheetah S200 carrying two men did not topple the fairground attraction when it hit the frame near the top on the first morning of an annual three-day festival at Old Bar, a coastal village in New South Wales, 220 miles north of Sydney.

Two children – a nine-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl – were trapped in a carriage at the top of the wheel near the wrecked plane for 90 minutes, according to police.

The 52-year-old pilot and his 32-year-old passenger were trapped inside the mangled aircraft more than 30ft above ground for almost three hours.

Fire spokesperson Ben Shepherd said rescuers used a crane to free the four.

“Thankfully, everyone was taken down and were able to walk away from it,” Shepherd said.

The pilot, Paul Cox, said he did not see the Ferris wheel before his aeroplane hit it.

“The next thing I knew, I was stopped inside the Ferris wheel,” he said. “I had no idea for a few minutes and I was just hoping no-one got hurt.”

Witnesses said the Ferris wheel was full of children minutes before the crash. But because of impending rain, only five had dared to take the final ride, said a festival organiser.

“The kids were fantastic,” said Brett Campbell, a paramedic at the scene. “They were so calm and so well behaved, and very brave. And so were the two gentlemen in the plane. They were just the best patients we could ever hope for. And the best thing about it: no-one really had any injuries.”

Fizal Meah, a witness, said one of the children in a carriage below the area of impact was struck by debris and was left distraught but uninjured.

“Because the rain was stopping and starting, stopping and starting, it was almost empty,” Meah said.

Old Bar resident Gary Jones said his nine-year-old twin sons were among the last to ride the Ferris wheel before the crash.

“It was a hell of a shock,” Jones said.

The aircraft had just taken off from a nearby airstrip when it crashed, Meah added.

One of the men in the aircraft said he and the pilot had urged the rescuers to free the children first.

“Don’t worry about us. Just get the damn kids out,” he said.

The aircraft reportedly failed to gain enough altitude after take-off. Gary Scanes, who lives next to the airstrip, said: “I was watching and saw the little plane take off to the south.

“It wasn’t gaining height from the moment it left the ground. I was thinking: ‘What’s this guy doing?’

“He was slightly to the left of the airfield where the temporary Ferris wheel has been erected.

“He started to veer and he flew straight into the second-from-top carriage on the right-hand side [of the Ferris wheel] … there were lots of ambulances and fire crews using foam and water because the plane dropped its fuel.

“When the plane took off there was very little breeze, if any. It could be pilot error or it could be a mechanical thing.”

The Old Bar Festival is an annual event now in its sixth year.

Residents said the Ferris wheel was usually erected in the same spot each year.

An investigation into the crash is now under way.