The pilot of a light aircraft has been taken to hospital with serious injuries after it crashed into a horse during takeoff in South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula.
At 9.20am on Sunday, emergency services, including the South Australia Police, the SA Ambulance Service and the SA Country Fire Service (CFS) were called to a private airstrip on a paddock at Anderson Rd, Brentwood, a town in the state’s west, at about 9.20am on Sunday morning.
While the pilot, a 63-year-old local man – and his passenger, a 56-year-old woman also local to the area, were able to escape the aircraft, the man was flown to Royal Adelaide Hospital with serious injuries.
The woman was uninjured.
It’s understood the aircraft was travelling at about 110km/hour at the time of the collision. Although the horse has been treated by a vet, police confirmed it is alive and standing upright despite the collision.
About 15 CFS volunteers, three CFS trucks and a bulk water carrier remained at the scene to secure stock, and assist paramedics with establishing a helicopter landing zone.
Crews were also on standby in the event of fuel leaks.
While the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) have been notified of the incident, it will likely not investigate the crash because the light aircraft was a recreational plane.
Instead, the investigation will likely be handled by Recreational Aviation Australia (RAAus).