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November 7, 2011

Two children survived unscathed when a light-weight plane crashed into a Ferris wheel ride at an Australian fair in October, reports The Telegraph.

The nine-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl were riding at the top of the Ferris wheel at the Old Bar fair near Taree, Australia when the light-weight Cheetah S200 crashed into the two carriages in front of the children.

The plane crashed right in front of the children soon after it took off at 10am on October 1, 2011.

The two children were trapped at the top of the wheel for 90 minutes before they escaped without injury. The pilot, a 53-year-old local man and his 32-year-old male passenger also escaped the accident without any injuries.

After the crash the wreckage began to leak fuel and oil.

According to several eye witnesses, the Ferris wheel seemed to have been erected "too close" to the nearby airstrip which was frequented by the coming and going of light-weight aircraft.

There might not have been enough time for the aircraft to avoid hitting the amusement ride after takeoff according to Darren Boehn who was at the fair.

"The Ferris wheel is pretty close to the end of the runway and it's clipped it after take-off," Boehn said.

"It is amazing no one was killed -- if those kids had been in a different carriage, or if the plane had struck from the other side, it would have been a disaster."

The children were rescued at about 11:30am using a cherry picker and "were pretty excited" when they touched land said a police spokeswoman.

After the children were safe, rescuers focused on the pilot and passenger who came down 75 minutes later.

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