Four skydivers had to bail out of a light plane over Grahamstown after the engine failed, the Herald Online reported on Monday.
The newspaper reported that commercial pilot Alexander Hammerschmidt (42) was the toast of the EP Skydiving Club after he was forced to perform an emergency landing on a dirt road at about 11am on Sunday.
Hammerschmidt landed the 1965 Cessna 206 on a straight stretch of dirt road on the Whites Farm Road about 12km from town.
Club owner Joos Vos said the pilot had to glide down to the road from 609,6m.
”He came in with full flaps and applied hard brakes. The road was not the best, but it worked on the day.”
Hammerschmidt also had to avoid fences, which were about two metres on either side of the plane’s wingtips.
”He was brilliant! He was also the only person in the plane who did not have a parachute!” Vos was quoted as saying.
The four parachutists — Port Elizabeth mechanical engineer Gera Felix, Port Elizabeth-based MTN technician Deon Jones, Lluwellan Henman from East London and Vos — had to land in the bush — but there were no injuries.
An added bonus for Vos was that the plane, valued at about R1-million, was not damaged during the landing.
”We have our emergency procedures and there were no problems,” he said of the jump and landing, adding it was the first time in a decade that the club plane had suffered engine failure.
Vos said the aircraft was serviced regularly in Port Elizabeth.
”It was just one of those things,” he said. – Sapa