A pilot who crashed a light plane into a ferris wheel on NSW's mid-north coast claimed he'd been trained at a facility that apparently didn't exist, a preliminary report has found.
The 53-year-old pilot was flying the ultralight Cheetah S200 when it slammed into the ride at a fairground in the township of Old Bar, near Taree, on October 1.
There were four people on the ride at the time, including Amber Arndell, 13, and her brother Jessie, nine.
A preliminary investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), made public today, found the pilot twice attempted to land the plane.
"On the second landing, the pilot estimated that he would not be able to stop before the end of the airstrip," it said.
"As a result, the landing was aborted and a go-around was commenced.
"During the initial climb phase of the
go-around, the aircraft collided with a
ferris wheel."
The report found the pilot had 79.5 hours total flight time, of which 51.5 hours were logged in recreational aircraft.
"A flight crew certificate application form was completed as part of the pilot's flight test and indicated that his flight training was conducted with a specifically-named training facility," the report said.
"A search of the RA-Aus listing of approved flight training facilities that was current at the time of the pilot's certificate application, revealed that no such training facility existed under that name."
The ATSB report said the ongoing investigation would focus on an "examination and assessment of the conduct of the pilot's training and the issue of the pilot's certificate".
It would also look into the ergonomics of the cockpit and an assessment of the council approval processes for the festival.
The pilot and people on the ride were not injured, but a 32-year-old male passenger on the plane and a person on the ground sustained minor injuries.
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