A TRAINEE pilot, whose aircraft was caught by crosswinds while landing at Warrnambool Airport, triggered a full-scale emergency response yesterday afternoon.
The single-engine Cessna veered off the bitumen runway onto the grass verge and travelled about 75 metres before coming to rest nose down in a drain.
Sergeant Dale Barclay, of Warrnambool police , said the incident happened as the 21-year-old Melbourne pilot was trimming the aircraft just after landing at the western end of the Mailors Flat airport about 4.30pm.
"The plane was caught by crosswinds and he overcorrected, resulting in the plane running off the bitumen," Sergeant Barclay said.
"The nose wheel hit the drain and bent and the propeller dug into the ground.
"Fortunately the pilot was unharmed.
"He had left Melbourne at 1pm on a training flight, travelled to Hamilton and planned to land at Warrnambool to refuel before returning to Melbourne."
Sergeant Barclay said the plane's owners sent engineers down to examine the aircraft.
"It was a good quick response from police, ambulance, fire brigade and SES," he said.
"When there's a plane incident the call goes to a central control which alerts all emergency services."
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